He’s bewildered, more than anything else, when Jack joins him on the floor. Maybe he shouldn’t be—one of Jack’s charms is how is doesn’t abide by the social scripts Eliot knows, so he’s off-kilter but not exactly anxious. Instead of standing and offering a hand up he’s here, they’re face to face, and continuing the conversation as if Eliot hadn’t been sucking him off moments ago.
He nods along. Jack sounds sensible, but there’s an undercurrent of something else, which Eliot supposes he should have expected. It’s an awkward arrangement, no way it couldn’t have been, even with the straightforward facts that Jack isn’t planning to be here indefinitely, and is comfortable with more than one casual partner. Eliot’s familiar enough with that, but it’s still, annoyingly, different with a friend. It’s different with him.
But he can’t offer any reasonable alternative, and though he flushes at the idea of Jack thinking about him when he’s with someone else, he can’t muster any pride at the compliment.
The offer startles him more than all the rest of what Jack’s said.
“Y-” Eliot starts to reply, before his thoughts can catch up. He wants to say yes, beyond all sense, but that’s a dangerous prospect, too impulsive. How could he possibly be honest under these conditions. Would you mind if we just cuddled? Eliot thinks, and imagines an awkward laugh, a polite refusal. Horrific. He takes a breath and smiles, hesitantly at first.
“You’re very tempting,” he answers at last. “We could probably lose a whole day just, mm, passing time together, but…” He could always call in sick, but there’s the chance John would Know the truth with his weird Archive powers, and he has no intention of making his personal business the subject of office gossip. “I’d rather actually plan for it, nicer that way. And it wouldn’t result in me getting told off by stuffy Englishmen.”
He sighs a little wistfully and meets Jack’s gaze with a soft laugh.
“My fault entirely for losing track of time…I promise to make it up to you later.” He doesn’t know when later might be, but they have a vague scaffolding of something, an agreement that they’ll do this again. It has to be enough. And in the meantime, he allows himself to imagine a moment suspended outside time, resting his head on Jack’s lap and being happy.
no subject
He nods along. Jack sounds sensible, but there’s an undercurrent of something else, which Eliot supposes he should have expected. It’s an awkward arrangement, no way it couldn’t have been, even with the straightforward facts that Jack isn’t planning to be here indefinitely, and is comfortable with more than one casual partner. Eliot’s familiar enough with that, but it’s still, annoyingly, different with a friend. It’s different with him.
But he can’t offer any reasonable alternative, and though he flushes at the idea of Jack thinking about him when he’s with someone else, he can’t muster any pride at the compliment.
The offer startles him more than all the rest of what Jack’s said.
“Y-” Eliot starts to reply, before his thoughts can catch up. He wants to say yes, beyond all sense, but that’s a dangerous prospect, too impulsive. How could he possibly be honest under these conditions. Would you mind if we just cuddled? Eliot thinks, and imagines an awkward laugh, a polite refusal. Horrific. He takes a breath and smiles, hesitantly at first.
“You’re very tempting,” he answers at last. “We could probably lose a whole day just, mm, passing time together, but…” He could always call in sick, but there’s the chance John would Know the truth with his weird Archive powers, and he has no intention of making his personal business the subject of office gossip. “I’d rather actually plan for it, nicer that way. And it wouldn’t result in me getting told off by stuffy Englishmen.”
He sighs a little wistfully and meets Jack’s gaze with a soft laugh.
“My fault entirely for losing track of time…I promise to make it up to you later.” He doesn’t know when later might be, but they have a vague scaffolding of something, an agreement that they’ll do this again. It has to be enough. And in the meantime, he allows himself to imagine a moment suspended outside time, resting his head on Jack’s lap and being happy.