[He crosses his arms across his chest. Except he's still holding the thrashing dinosaur, so he just feeds his hand to Deathbringer, instead.]
OW - fuck - see! This is what I meant!
You can't live with the guy you think is hot a week after you meet him! I'm literally me, and you're making me feel like my mom, Jesus. Even I wouldn't do that.
[ The sharpness of his name earns a start. He might have laughed at the dinosaur chomping at Cliff - might - his first instinct is to glance down to see if hte other boy is bleeding but
Damn, Cliff. Can't believe you made him go still in two different ways on the same day. Which is to say his g9ray eyes are dark when he frowns up at him, brows pinched. ]
What do you mean this is what I meant?
You were practically invited here the same week I got the shop, it's not any different. [He means when he was given the key, way back when, on their first meeting. He'd known then and accepted it rather or not Cliff realized yet. ]
My being attracted to him or anything literally has nothing to do with it. It really doesn't.
...I'm the same as the guy you have a crush on you've known for 14 days.
[The tone of voice is deadpan rather than angry or anything like that.]
And what do you mean, what do you mean this is what I meant. I meant this is what I meant. You need a dad.
[Yes Cliff is a dad of 2 now.]
OK, not really, but -- are you for serious telling me you think it's a good idea to room with the dude you want to kiss after two weeks? 'Cause I've never even seen that in those bad romcoms about people fucking up relationships real bad. Like, this is straight-up bad decisions bear with a billboard.
In the sense of I've known you in a similar or a less amount of time since suggesting it, yeah.
[He could make a joke about relationships or something but he doesn't. Instead he frowns a little more at the suggestion he needs a dad. He really doesn't? ]
[ He closes his eyes. ]
I don't want to kiss him - [A beat, the begrudging scrunched face of: Okay, maybe I do a little. He exhales and opens his eyes, still as quiet as he was before. ]
Should I counterpoint that if I didn't have the shop the Fae could do that just for fun anyway? [... Okay, so that's not what he wants to get at. ] It really isn't like that. The only thing that matters to me is that I've met someone who is used to being seen as... something worse than we already are, maybe - I don't want him in the castle where that's what he'll be treated at all the time if I can help it.
[Cliff just half-rolls his eyes so Billy can see the whites until he confesses his own feelings to himself.]
Yeah. Maybe it is.
And that's the bad idea. If you wanna. Make something work. [Cliff does something vague with his hands which is completely uninterpretable, but could possibly be an allusion to sex or could possibly just be waving.] You gotta think about the other thing, too. You actually like him, dude. I'm not fucking psychic, but I'm just gonna, you know, do that thing where I throw your words back in your face.
'Kisses are intimate.'
I don't gotta tell you the stuff that runs through my head. And the stuff that runs through yours. And his. We're fucking sixt -- seventeen.
[He's not gonna elaborate.]
I'm just wor -- ew. No. Gross. Fuck. I'm not saying the Mom word.
OK, whatevs, I don't actually care besides that if he makes you cry, I'm taking off his kneecaps.
[ 'If you wanna make something work,' Cliff said and maybe briefly he could think it's about a relationship but then like.... Cliff's intentions versus his hand movements tell him what he means and Billy does duck his head again. There's that steeliness about him. His cheeks don't quite flush, but it's a near thing. The hands at his side ball into fists and for the moment the t-rex that was chomping at Cliff's hands is forgotten. ]
He's not going to make me cry.
[ The first thing he says solidly, after a moment. First, to the defense of the other teenager. He knows more than he should. Knows how Coryo looks to find an upperhand - knows that comes from need, molded to always be looking. To survive. Knows that the moments they had it hadn't mattered to him.
Even if he wanted to try to manipulate him one day, Billy knows it'd fail. Because Billy is always a few steps ahead and, in this case, notably more powerful. It's funny, how the side that is meant to protect who he really is can can think sometimes.
Mostly, he's quiet. Small even. Like he doesn't want to say something that he knows he should, that he's trying to figure out if doing so will blow up in his face - Worry on if Cliff will respond as Cliff usually does. ]
You don't have to worry about that. It was already way more than a kiss.
[ It's not so quiet it can't be heard regularly but it's still that quiet, stillness that Billy gets when he... It's not quite closing himself off this time, but maybe it is. Maybe it's shielding off what other weird feelings come with it. He doesn't quite look up. ]
And I don't know if I like him or not, not really. Right now, I just want to help someone who needs it.
[Unusually enough, this time, Billy doesn't quite have the right of it. Of course, the conversation is intense enough that the mental components might be a bit much to process simultaneously, but Cliff's hand motions had more or less accurately indicated what he meant. Both. Sex and relationships, in his mind, were intertwined enough that both merited a certain amount of healthy awareness.
Still, that's not the important bit. His eyebrow shoots up as Billy chooses to respond to the joke portion first. (...Well, not a joke, he would absolutely take off his kneecaps.) Whether or not the other boy realizes it, it betrays something of which Cliff is becoming increasingly convinced.
He likes this boy quite a bit.
At the confession, Cliff goes still for a moment, leaving Deathbringer continuing to gnaw off Cliff's arm as the only movement in the room, which he should probably seek medical attention for at a later point. Fortunately, his hoodie is currently in the way.]
...Yeah.
[He sort of figured. He hadn't put two and two together until late last night. But it was hard not to notice that night after the No Good Very Bad Stupid Sex Party, a completely unfamiliar human scent lingering in the upstairs portion of the house. At the time, he had barely cared, after his overall harrowing experience. He certainly hadn't thought to ever ask about it. Billy was allowed to have visitors. But after the conversation at Billy's holiday party...]
OK. You can.
I just don't think you're thinking enough about helping yourself.
The truth is he thinks he does - But it's complicated. What do you do when an intense situation makes everything you feel already more intense? Is it a lie then? He - Doesn't want to think so because he still cares, he still feels. And that's the problem with being Billy - He'll always care even if he doesn't want to.
(Not that he doesn't want to, in this case, but he's doomed to care more than he reasonably should). ]
[ He doesn't look up. He hadn't lied last night, either, he had enjoyed it. He's not ashamed, exactly just - Confused is the word. It'll keep being the word even when he nods his head simply at the 'yeah' Cliff responded with. Of course Cliff would know, he's smarter than he gives himself credit for. ]
[ A small huff of a breath at the 'you can,' that might be near amusement - like a child being given permission by an adult. Then he looks up, smile small and wary. ]
I'm not exactly sure what would be helping myself here. I know ignoring him won't and I know I'll want to help him.
[Because being that intimate also means, by consequence, he knows more than he ordinarily would. ]
I'll be okay. Besides, if something else did happen, at least it might be on our terms.
That's 'cause you're like, a fucking saint. And don't even try to say anything; we're only friends because you're a fucking saint. ...OK, like, all versions of you. I mean, honestly, this version of you, too, who goes 'OK crazy wolf guy someone else made friends with we can keep the same relationship.'
A normal person would want to give a relationship the best chance possible. Like, you know, have cute-ass fucking dates and get to fall in love or whatever, not move the guy in.
[It's not that it was doomed to failure. It just seemed to open the possibility pretty wide.]
...I mean, I think. Not that I've ever done this shit.
Also, let's be real. I live here, too. That's like, a minus 500 penalty to this whole thing.
[What did he say this time? Calling him a saint earns a look. He definitely disagrees because of course he does. He's not a saint - he can't find anything about what he's doing here saintlike. Even that explanation: ]
You also took a chance on me because someone asked you to.
[So who's the real saint? ]
[ The hands at his sides, still balled into fists, loosen as Cliff goes on. He doesn't roll his eyes but he breathes out. ]
It sounds like, to me, you have a lot more hope for something to come out of this than I do. [And he knows Cliff does, there's not much of a joking tone there. Cliff told him the night previously - he wanted Billy to be happy. Maybe this was counterintuitive to that. Maybe he's right and any possible relationship goes out the window, but he doesn't think there was a chance to begin with. ]
It's only a minus 500 penalty if you start harassing him about this. [That much is a joke, at least. ] I wouldn't invite him here if I was worried about you... screwing something up or whatever.
Can you stop a dog from chasing its own tail? No. Can you stop Cliff from interrogating your boyfriend? Also no.
[Cliff shakes his head somberly, knowing full well the heavy burden that is upon him of being Billy's self-assigned wingman/vetman/whatever.]
But I'll go easy. I'll use the abridged questionnaire. [This suggests Cliff has made preparations for this day in advance.] And I'll give him 24 hours to settle in.
[It's odd because this is also behavior guaranteed to alienate a possible relationship but Cliff is a Complex Man with Complex Feelings. Also he's probably teasing. A little.]
Please do not call him that - especially around him. I don't want him to even know I told you.
[ About the other stuff. Or that Cliff figured it out, he'd assumed he would. Even making sure clothes were cleaned, he bet Cliff would smell another person in the apartment. Still. He didn't want - ]
Twenty-four hours and you leave all 'why are you good enough for Billy questions' out. [ Look. He has to say it. At least he does know his name! ] ... Coriolanus.
[What is life as Cliff if he doesn't make Billy roll his eyes and want to punch him once a while.]
OK, OK... I was gonna ask him 'why aren't you good enough for Billy,' anyway. Hey, don't stress. Maybe we'll get along so well he'll forget you and totally fall in love with me.
It's not like it hasn't happened before.
[If Billy actually punches him now, he probably deserves it. That said, he's already receiving physical suffering in the form of one increasingly antsy T. Rex, and he starts to edge back towards the door.]
When's he coming? Do I need to act natural. Like look up and be like, 'yo dude I didn't know anyone was coming come and hang chillax.'
...You probably would, too, honestly. See what I mean? [saint]
OK, OK, I'll leave you alone... only because I should probably do something about this guy now. [Deathbringer has now assumed the classic pet pose of latching on to Cliff's arm so tightly that Cliff shakes his arm up and down and the dino manages to hang from it without falling.]
Buuut. Hey, honestly, I hope this goes well.
[Cliff's moments of being unsarcastic are rare enough to be noticeable. They seem to be happening fairly frequently these last two days, which is gross and is definitely giving him some sort of rash because he's allergic to being genuine.]
[ Billy huffs at him and bravely resists the urge to roll his eyes. Mostly because he's now watching Deathbringer practically devour Cliff's arms.
Also mostly because he flushes at Cliff wanting it to go well - because it really is starting to feel like Cliff is overly optimistic in this and Billy's not sure what he's doing exactly. Helping someone, yes, trying to ignore all other possible feelings, also yes.
He breathes out. ]
I was in the middle of doing something [- and want to escape - ] and if someone else might be moving in, I gotta make some adjustments. Try not to get eaten?
[Cliff glances down at the dinosaur hanging off his arm and the multiple bite indentations all over.]
The boat might have sailed on that one.
Oh, but if you make his room nicer than mine, then we'll actually have a problem, 'kay?
[Cliff nods in satisfaction to himself before exiting. Shortly after, Billy will hear a plaintive 'wait deathbringer!!!' and the sounds of roaring becoming increasingly distant along with rapid footsteps]
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no subject
[He agrees. Helpfully. ]
[ He mostly keeps his composure at the question. Mostly.
Mostly. ]
It's someone who I think comes from a way worse place than either of us.
no subject
[He crosses his arms across his chest. Except he's still holding the thrashing dinosaur, so he just feeds his hand to Deathbringer, instead.]
OW - fuck - see! This is what I meant!
You can't live with the guy you think is hot a week after you meet him! I'm literally me, and you're making me feel like my mom, Jesus. Even I wouldn't do that.
no subject
Damn, Cliff. Can't believe you made him go still in two different ways on the same day. Which is to say his g9ray eyes are dark when he frowns up at him, brows pinched. ]
What do you mean this is what I meant?
You were practically invited here the same week I got the shop, it's not any different. [He means when he was given the key, way back when, on their first meeting. He'd known then and accepted it rather or not Cliff realized yet. ]
My being attracted to him or anything literally has nothing to do with it. It really doesn't.
no subject
[The tone of voice is deadpan rather than angry or anything like that.]
And what do you mean, what do you mean this is what I meant. I meant this is what I meant. You need a dad.
[Yes Cliff is a dad of 2 now.]
OK, not really, but -- are you for serious telling me you think it's a good idea to room with the dude you want to kiss after two weeks? 'Cause I've never even seen that in those bad romcoms about people fucking up relationships real bad. Like, this is straight-up bad decisions bear with a billboard.
no subject
[He could make a joke about relationships or something but he doesn't. Instead he frowns a little more at the suggestion he needs a dad. He really doesn't? ]
[ He closes his eyes. ]
I don't want to kiss him - [A beat, the begrudging scrunched face of: Okay, maybe I do a little. He exhales and opens his eyes, still as quiet as he was before. ]
Should I counterpoint that if I didn't have the shop the Fae could do that just for fun anyway? [... Okay, so that's not what he wants to get at. ] It really isn't like that. The only thing that matters to me is that I've met someone who is used to being seen as... something worse than we already are, maybe - I don't want him in the castle where that's what he'll be treated at all the time if I can help it.
And I can.
no subject
Yeah. Maybe it is.
And that's the bad idea. If you wanna. Make something work. [Cliff does something vague with his hands which is completely uninterpretable, but could possibly be an allusion to sex or could possibly just be waving.] You gotta think about the other thing, too. You actually like him, dude. I'm not fucking psychic, but I'm just gonna, you know, do that thing where I throw your words back in your face.
'Kisses are intimate.'
I don't gotta tell you the stuff that runs through my head. And the stuff that runs through yours. And his. We're fucking sixt -- seventeen.
[He's not gonna elaborate.]
I'm just wor -- ew. No. Gross. Fuck. I'm not saying the Mom word.
OK, whatevs, I don't actually care besides that if he makes you cry, I'm taking off his kneecaps.
no subject
He's not going to make me cry.
[ The first thing he says solidly, after a moment. First, to the defense of the other teenager. He knows more than he should. Knows how Coryo looks to find an upperhand - knows that comes from need, molded to always be looking. To survive. Knows that the moments they had it hadn't mattered to him.
Even if he wanted to try to manipulate him one day, Billy knows it'd fail. Because Billy is always a few steps ahead and, in this case, notably more powerful. It's funny, how the side that is meant to protect who he really is can can think sometimes.
Mostly, he's quiet. Small even. Like he doesn't want to say something that he knows he should, that he's trying to figure out if doing so will blow up in his face - Worry on if Cliff will respond as Cliff usually does. ]
You don't have to worry about that. It was already way more than a kiss.
[ It's not so quiet it can't be heard regularly but it's still that quiet, stillness that Billy gets when he... It's not quite closing himself off this time, but maybe it is. Maybe it's shielding off what other weird feelings come with it. He doesn't quite look up. ]
And I don't know if I like him or not, not really. Right now, I just want to help someone who needs it.
no subject
Still, that's not the important bit. His eyebrow shoots up as Billy chooses to respond to the joke portion first. (...Well, not a joke, he would absolutely take off his kneecaps.) Whether or not the other boy realizes it, it betrays something of which Cliff is becoming increasingly convinced.
He likes this boy quite a bit.
At the confession, Cliff goes still for a moment, leaving Deathbringer continuing to gnaw off Cliff's arm as the only movement in the room, which he should probably seek medical attention for at a later point. Fortunately, his hoodie is currently in the way.]
...Yeah.
[He sort of figured. He hadn't put two and two together until late last night. But it was hard not to notice that night after the No Good Very Bad Stupid Sex Party, a completely unfamiliar human scent lingering in the upstairs portion of the house. At the time, he had barely cared, after his overall harrowing experience. He certainly hadn't thought to ever ask about it. Billy was allowed to have visitors. But after the conversation at Billy's holiday party...]
OK. You can.
I just don't think you're thinking enough about helping yourself.
no subject
The truth is he thinks he does - But it's complicated. What do you do when an intense situation makes everything you feel already more intense? Is it a lie then? He - Doesn't want to think so because he still cares, he still feels. And that's the problem with being Billy - He'll always care even if he doesn't want to.
(Not that he doesn't want to, in this case, but he's doomed to care more than he reasonably should). ]
[ He doesn't look up. He hadn't lied last night, either, he had enjoyed it. He's not ashamed, exactly just - Confused is the word. It'll keep being the word even when he nods his head simply at the 'yeah' Cliff responded with. Of course Cliff would know, he's smarter than he gives himself credit for. ]
[ A small huff of a breath at the 'you can,' that might be near amusement - like a child being given permission by an adult. Then he looks up, smile small and wary. ]
I'm not exactly sure what would be helping myself here. I know ignoring him won't and I know I'll want to help him.
[Because being that intimate also means, by consequence, he knows more than he ordinarily would. ]
I'll be okay. Besides, if something else did happen, at least it might be on our terms.
no subject
That's 'cause you're like, a fucking saint. And don't even try to say anything; we're only friends because you're a fucking saint. ...OK, like, all versions of you. I mean, honestly, this version of you, too, who goes 'OK crazy wolf guy someone else made friends with we can keep the same relationship.'
A normal person would want to give a relationship the best chance possible. Like, you know, have cute-ass fucking dates and get to fall in love or whatever, not move the guy in.
[It's not that it was doomed to failure. It just seemed to open the possibility pretty wide.]
...I mean, I think. Not that I've ever done this shit.
Also, let's be real. I live here, too. That's like, a minus 500 penalty to this whole thing.
no subject
You also took a chance on me because someone asked you to.
[So who's the real saint? ]
[ The hands at his sides, still balled into fists, loosen as Cliff goes on. He doesn't roll his eyes but he breathes out. ]
It sounds like, to me, you have a lot more hope for something to come out of this than I do. [And he knows Cliff does, there's not much of a joking tone there. Cliff told him the night previously - he wanted Billy to be happy. Maybe this was counterintuitive to that. Maybe he's right and any possible relationship goes out the window, but he doesn't think there was a chance to begin with. ]
It's only a minus 500 penalty if you start harassing him about this. [That much is a joke, at least. ] I wouldn't invite him here if I was worried about you... screwing something up or whatever.
no subject
[Cliff shakes his head somberly, knowing full well the heavy burden that is upon him of being Billy's self-assigned wingman/vetman/whatever.]
But I'll go easy. I'll use the abridged questionnaire. [This suggests Cliff has made preparations for this day in advance.] And I'll give him 24 hours to settle in.
[It's odd because this is also behavior guaranteed to alienate a possible relationship but Cliff is a Complex Man with Complex Feelings. Also he's probably teasing. A little.]
What's his name, anyway?
no subject
[ About the other stuff. Or that Cliff figured it out, he'd assumed he would. Even making sure clothes were cleaned, he bet Cliff would smell another person in the apartment. Still. He didn't want - ]
Twenty-four hours and you leave all 'why are you good enough for Billy questions' out. [ Look. He has to say it. At least he does know his name! ] ... Coriolanus.
no subject
[What is life as Cliff if he doesn't make Billy roll his eyes and want to punch him once a while.]
OK, OK... I was gonna ask him 'why aren't you good enough for Billy,' anyway. Hey, don't stress. Maybe we'll get along so well he'll forget you and totally fall in love with me.
It's not like it hasn't happened before.
[If Billy actually punches him now, he probably deserves it. That said, he's already receiving physical suffering in the form of one increasingly antsy T. Rex, and he starts to edge back towards the door.]
When's he coming? Do I need to act natural. Like look up and be like, 'yo dude I didn't know anyone was coming come and hang chillax.'
no subject
[Cliff, please. Stop. ]
[He's trying not to stress and the reality is - he's not exactly, though, and he raises a brow at the suggestion. ]
If you fell in love with each other, then I'd be happy for you.
[ Mostly a joke, partly the truth. He still feels steelly as he watches Cliff fight his new son and frowns a little. ]
... I'll text you when I know, if he does. Do you need help?
[Worry in his tone as he asks it, even if in some way he wants nothing more to be alone right now and bury his face in shame. ]
no subject
...You probably would, too, honestly. See what I mean? [saint]
OK, OK, I'll leave you alone... only because I should probably do something about this guy now. [Deathbringer has now assumed the classic pet pose of latching on to Cliff's arm so tightly that Cliff shakes his arm up and down and the dino manages to hang from it without falling.]
Buuut. Hey, honestly, I hope this goes well.
[Cliff's moments of being unsarcastic are rare enough to be noticeable. They seem to be happening fairly frequently these last two days, which is gross and is definitely giving him some sort of rash because he's allergic to being genuine.]
I'm probably OK. Unless you wanna come help.
no subject
Also mostly because he flushes at Cliff wanting it to go well - because it really is starting to feel like Cliff is overly optimistic in this and Billy's not sure what he's doing exactly. Helping someone, yes, trying to ignore all other possible feelings, also yes.
He breathes out. ]
I was in the middle of doing something [- and want to escape - ] and if someone else might be moving in, I gotta make some adjustments. Try not to get eaten?
no subject
The boat might have sailed on that one.
Oh, but if you make his room nicer than mine, then we'll actually have a problem, 'kay?
[Cliff nods in satisfaction to himself before exiting. Shortly after, Billy will hear a plaintive 'wait deathbringer!!!' and the sounds of roaring becoming increasingly distant along with rapid footsteps]