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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Dec 25, 2017 18:51:14 GMT -5
{ merry christmas ^-^ }
It was a familiar routine, Youngjae washing the dishes then passing them off to Simon to dry, and he almost hated how easy it was for him to slip back into it. He'd been more or less alone for the past two years (less when he was just so lonely he agreed to go home with whatever desperate guy or girl he happened to meet right before the end of his shift at the bar, though he was always just as alone as he was before after it ended) and just being here was testing him in a way that he neither enjoyed nor abhorred. Somewhere deep down, Jae did want to have some kind of a domestic home life. It was just hard to get there. Maybe too hard.
The silence was a bit less tense than before. In any case, Jae welcomed it to the inevitable conversation he and his ex would have to have. Off in the bedrooms, Briana could be heard giggling as she played with the dinosaurs and the two shelties that Jae wished he could have helped raise. A kitten that he had never seen before sat on the counter, focused on batting at the flowing water with its paw. It would seem that Simon ended up being better off without him, given the new pets and the clean, organized flat and it even seemed that his leg was doing better now. Part of Youngjae was happy about that, the other part was a little bitter, though he knew he really shouldn't be.
"Ah." Of course... "About a week ago, her mother showed up with her at my door. Said to me, 'This is your daughter. Take her.' Gave me a folder with all of her files. Then she was gone." He shrugged, scrubbing one particular plate a little harder than he needed to. "Her name is Valeria Delgado. Brianna has her last name." He'd taken that name off the birth certificate. Maybe if he tried hard enough, he'd be able to remember her from his memories, too.
Nah, I'm not good enough to be able to remember things like that.
"And then I tried to take care of her. Missed work every night. I couldn't handle it anymore, it's driving me crazy." Another shrug. He passed the last plate to Simon and shut off the faucet. "So I came to you."
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Asexual
sweetclover1
Hi loves, like my posts so I'll reply faster <3
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Post by sweetclover1 on Dec 25, 2017 21:40:12 GMT -5
(Should we skip? And merry christmas to you too!)
Honestly? Simon had been better off during the years with his ex out of his life... but causation didn't exactly mean correlation. He'd slowly gotten more and more used to his prosthetic, that being something he'd only had for less than a year when he had first met Youngjae, and surrounding himself by animals was something he had always aimed to do. He just loved them so much and had a huge heart... so he'd adopt the older ones, usually, who needed homes. The two shelties had been found on the side of the road together as little puppies so that was an exception and so was this little kitten that he'd found on the side of the road... last of his little in the box during a rainstorm. How someone had just callously left those little ones behind or chose one above the other Simon didn't know.
"Hey, Jaxie, none of that." He scolded the kitten when the tiny guy latched onto simons hand and started to gnaw on it. He scruffed the six month old kitten (who whined loudly in protest) and plopped him onto the floor before glancing over just a little to listen to what he had to say. So... the woman was named Valeria Delgado... that name vaguely sounded familiar but he didn't know where so he just kept on scrubbing with a slight frown.
"Why didn't you try to go to your family? I bet hey'd be estatic to know that you slept with a woman." Woah. That came out a lot more bitter than he intended. But he couldn't help it, that disapointemtn that had come from Jaes parents had really messed with Simon, too. He'd been anxious enough to meet them and had hardly been able to get a word out towards them.
Frankly that was one part of his life that had gotten worse since they'd broken up. His social anxiety got to the point where he couldn't talk to others and he did most of his ordering online. The only people he spoke with were coworkers and the people in the pit during his performances, and the pit members were the only ones he was super comfortable with, too.
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Dec 25, 2017 22:13:43 GMT -5
{ Yeah, sure c:
Where to? Maybe after Simon's appointment? They could go pick Briana up from school together?
Or something else idk :') i'm drawing a blank }
{ From your reply, I think Valeria Delgado would be an interesting concept to explore in the future, though. Maybe Simon knows more about her than Youngjae does }
Youngjae was in the process of drying off the counter when Simon made the comment about his family. He only paused very briefly, but the look in his eyes gave away what he was feeling. His parents were immigrants, and from Korea, no less. The States were progressive enough nowadays that a gay couple in the streets wasn't much to gawk at anymore, especially in the cities, and they could even get married. Legally. In Korea, it was still taboo. It was fine to be gay, in theory, as long as you didn't tell anyone about it. As long as you didn't act on it, as long as you weren't a member of the family. His parents, needless to say, clung onto that mentality.
He remembered when he'd introduced Simon to his parents. He'd had half a mind to chicken out and just say that Simon was an old college friend. He should've just done that.
"I mean..." He dried off his hands, looking down at the kitten just so that he could have something to look at. "I doubt that the idea of me possibly settling with a woman would be enough to counter the fact that I got her pregnant without getting married first. Also the fact that I didn't know about it for five years?" He pursed his lips, moving past Simon to get out of the kitchen go clean the dining room table. "Yeah...better not to try."
Twenty minutes left. He wiped down the table, his movements mechanical and well-practiced. Doing chores had always a good way to get his mind off of things.
When he was finished, Youngjae called for an Uber to take him back into the heart of the city. He'd have to drop by his apartment after work to grab some of his things and gather what items Briana had brought with her on the day she'd been dropped off. It wasn't much, just a small suitcase of clothes and a stuffed animal. No wonder the girl still thought her mother was coming back.
"I'll be going, then. Good night, Simon." The last time he'd said that, the last time he'd left Simon to go to work, it had been with a smile and a peck on the cheek, a promise that he'd be back as soon as he could. This time, he just left.
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Dec 25, 2017 22:47:39 GMT -5
{ Yeah, that works!
Maybe college? I was thinking that Youngjae would have met Valeria towards the end of college.
That's useful ahaaa
What if Simon ends up remembering something about Valeria and finds a way to contact her after Jae's already grown attached to Briana? Briana wants to see her mother again, of course, but then Jae's conflicted at that point because he doesn't know if Valeria will want to take her back and he doesn't know if he would be willing to let go and wooo plot }
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Asexual
sweetclover1
Hi loves, like my posts so I'll reply faster <3
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Post by sweetclover1 on Dec 25, 2017 23:10:27 GMT -5
(Oooh I like it, I like it a lot.
It would be useful if Simon could actually talk to people xD
Also I was thinking of having Simon work himself to the point of him getting really sick-like bad flu- and maybe Jae taking care of him for a bit and thats how they start to get closer again?)
It had been hours of torture basically but Simon was finally done. His labs came back relatively normal, save his kidneys but that was no surprise, because the chemo had screwed them up pretty badly. He was already on medication fro that but he'd have to get the dosage fixed and if that didn't fix it... then he'd be on the transplant list and be put on dialysis sooner than expected.
Wasn't that great? He was a twenty five year old and already had the body of an old man.
But the worst part of the day was his bimonthly physical training he had to do for his prosthetic. His physical therapist was always big on keep him up and working on using it to the best of his abilities and didn't want him slipping back into his "dark days" as she called it. Whenever he went through those he'd just refuse to use his prosthetic and wheelchair it everywhere... if he got out of bed. But those had gotten better now, and he thought it would make PT less grueling, but he was dead wrong. She still managed to find ways to push Simon and for some reason he was more exhausted than usual after it.
So by the time he was done he was feeling a little lightheaded and he did something he didn't think he'd ever do.
He sucked it up and texted Youngjae for help. He wouldn't have done it if he thought he could have taken the bus home. But right now he felt like he was about to pass out and his body was all trembly. He would ave rather dealt with his ex and the awkwardness there than waking up and being in the hospital because he passed out on the bus. So he texted him an achingly familiar note: PT sucked. Pick me up please?
Before he would have promised something in return, but they weren't like that anymore, and fro all Simon knew he was busy sleeping with someone now to answer the phone. But he still texted, hoping that he'd answer, because he was feeling a little off.
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Dec 26, 2017 11:07:43 GMT -5
{ LOL poor Simon rip his communication skills
Ooo yeah ok, I'm down for that
Some soft, maybe fluffy, plot <3 }
Simon 10:45:21
Pick me up please?
Jae 10:49:04
Sure, be there in 15
Youngjae had gotten back to Simon's place a quarter to seven in the morning with two suitcases, one for him and one for Briana, and a desperate need for sleep. Not working for a week had really messed up his internal clock (or maybe it had fixed it) and being up all night mixing drinks, donning fake smiles and masks of feigned interest in conversation, had done nothing good for him. He'd gotten a little over an hour of sleep before his alarm went off and he reluctantly pulled himself out of bed.
Two years ago, he'd only ever get up this early to accompany Simon to his appointments.
But elementary school started at 8:40 and he'd learned that it was best to make sure Briana was early rather than late.
They ended up leaving before Simon did and Youngjae decided to take the spare house key left by the front door, probably for Layla when she stayed over, in case he wanted to come back before Simon was due home.
Turned out that he didn't need the key anyway. At 8:35, he dropped Briana off, walked to a nearby coffee shop and downed more espresso than his system was ever meant to carry. It left him feeling jittery, but awake and very much alive. He needed that. 9:01, he ended up taking another cup to go. That cup was emptied and discarded by 9:15 and then Youngjae just walked. He walked to give all that caffeine flowing through his veins some purpose, walked to clear his mind, walked just because he could.
When Simon texted him, he'd been sitting on a park bench, watching people walk past mindlessly. Picking Simon up. He could do that. He even remembered the exact address. He could get there in his sleep.
So by 11:05, Youngjae was standing in front of Simon's hospital, an Uber called up on his phone, scheduled to show up in a minute or two.
Jae 11:04:56
Im out front. Do you want me to come in to get you?
{ Sorry there's not really much for you to respond to here, but I wasn't sure how far I could progress without taking over the script
I won't mind if your reply is shorter because of this aha...my bad }
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Dec 27, 2017 10:02:24 GMT -5
{ lolol me in real life }
The act of rushing over to Simon when he saw him, the feeling that he wanted to help and the awkward hovering as he realized that there was no good way to help support a person on crutches were all so automatic that Youngjae wasn't even aware he had moved at all until Simon was right in front of him. He frowned, then motioned towards the black Toyota parked by the side of the road, "I called an Uber for us."
He was thankful that the driver had parked close to the curb, close enough that he wouldn't have to worry about Simon having to navigate a break between the sidewalk and the car. Wordlessly, he opened the door to the backseat and held it as the other maneuvered his way in. It was obvious that Simon was tired. PT must have been particularly grueling today (or just as grueling as it always was). Youngjae had only had to do physical therapy a couple times, when he was younger and had injured himself in high school soccer. It'd been pretty bad. He imagined that for Simon, it might be worse.
Once Simon was inside the car, Jae carefully shut the door and went around to enter the car from the other side. As the car pulled away from the hospital, headed back to Simon's home, he alternated between looking out the window and glancing over at his ex. He wanted to say something, but what was there to say? He's the one that texted you to pick him up. It's fine. It's fine.
"You feeling ok?" The question was so stiff, lacked so much of their previous familiarity, that Youngjae almost winced. It might have been better to not try talking at all.
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Asexual
sweetclover1
Hi loves, like my posts so I'll reply faster <3
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Post by sweetclover1 on Dec 27, 2017 16:34:34 GMT -5
(Same lol)
Honestly at first Simon hadn't even realized that the other had rushed over to him until he looked up a little and saw that Youngjae was there in front of him. Simon blinked for a few moments, wrinkling his nose to keep his glasses from sliding off, it taking a good minute for him to fully realize that his ex was there and ready to pick him up. Relief had flooded through his chest before nodding a little when he was told that Jaw had called an Uber for the two of them. Right now he couldn't really remember why Jae didn't have a car but either way he was happy that the man was there.
If he was being honest with himself he had always been there if Simon needed help after PT. Or at least he was when he could. It was somethign that Simon was still pretty thankful for even if he'd never admit that now.
He stared at the toyota that Jack had called and breathed a small sigh when he realized that the car had been parked close to a curb. That meant he wouldn't have that much trouble getting into the car. He lurched a little forward and slowly made his way towards the car, missing his prosthetic, but also kind of hating it. It usually took Simon a good day after his PT sessions to get back using the stupid thing because his therapist usually pushed him to do things that hurt.. which meant that Simon didn't want to use it for the rest of the day. It was frustrating to have to move this slowly but he'd rather that then push the aching remains of his limb... plus he was tired so it made everything just a little bit worse.
Once inside he rested his head against the headrest, eyes closing a little, hating that immediately things got awkward now that they were alone... and had ntoihgn to talk about. At least he could pretend he was asleep... bt he wouldn't be pretending for very long. He was close to falling asleep, and the only thing that got him a little awake was the question. He opened his eyes a little to look over at the other and blink slowly. "I've been better. " He finally responded, the code for him feeling pretty much like crap. He'd never admit if he didn't feel well and that was usually the closest he'd go to admitting he was exhausted and achy from PT. Then he simply closed his eyes and rested for awhile. Within minutes he'd passed out... and his head landed on Jaes shoulder as a pillow.
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Dec 27, 2017 20:28:03 GMT -5
With Simon clearly asleep (and resting on his shoulder, no less), Youngjae was given the rest of the car ride to just think. He wondered if it would be a good idea to ask his sister for his car back, after all. After he'd broken up with Simon and moved back to his apartment downtown, he'd found little use for driving. Work was just a ten minute walk away and in the city, pretty much anything that was a necessity was within walking distance. And if he didn't want to walk, he could get on Postmate and pay someone else to run his errands for him. Or take public transport, he supposed. In any case, he just hadn't needed a car for the past two years, so he'd gone and left it at his sister's place.
But now that he was back at Simon's house, maybe he should call her. It would make transportation easier.
When the driver pulled up in front of the house, Youngjae nudged Simon lightly. "Hey, wake up. We're home." It was only after the words left his lips that he wished he could take them back. We're home almost made it sound like they were still together, still shared a home. "Simon, wake up."
The driver was patient as Youngjae got out of the car and went around to hold the door open for Simon again. Last time he'd picked Simon up from the hospital after PT, he'd been driving his own car. It had been easier. I should call Jiyoung, ask her about the car. Today.
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Asexual
sweetclover1
Hi loves, like my posts so I'll reply faster <3
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Post by sweetclover1 on Dec 28, 2017 4:02:58 GMT -5
A sleepy Simon was a cuddly Simon and one that certainly didn't discriminate exes from other people he knew. Which was why he'd fallen asleep on Jaes shoulder and refused to move, even when he was nudged slightly. Instead of jumping up and uttering an apology the young man let out a soft whine and wrapped his arms around one of Jaes as if to stop him from moving so much.
Honestly he'd forgotten about how nice it was to cuddle with someone because he hadn't done so in so long. Plus this was one of the few moments that he could stop pretending that he hated having Youngjae here and sort of enjoy his presence. Sure, Simon was still hurt beyond words about what happened,but he had honestly missed the other too much. Even if he wouldn't admit it.
"Mmm... five more minutes." He mumbled, before his body slumped forward, Jae moving to get out of the uber. When his side of the car opened Simon only looked up with those wide, tired, puppy dog eyes and lifted his arms up a little. Then he remembered who he was actually with and quickly changed the asking to be carried in- like Jae had always done after his sessions- into a stretch. He then tried to find his crutches, patting around blindly for them as he looked over at Jae.
"Thanks... for finding me." He informed the other, clearly not wanting to walk, but still trying to find the crutches because he doubted that Jae would willingly cary him in. They were exes after all.
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Dec 29, 2017 10:55:54 GMT -5
"Yeah...no problem." Youngjae stood there for a few seconds longer, a war raging in his mind as he tried to decide what was best for him. This had happened before, multiple times, in the past. And every one of those times, he hadn't hesitated to pick Simon up, walk inside, and set him down on either the couch or the bed (depending on how the other was feeling) and go find some leftover food in the fridge that they could share. Sometimes, they just ended up with ice cream, but those were arguably the best days.
Before he could think about it anymore, Jae let out a sigh and bent down, reaching for the crutches first and taking those out of the car, setting them by the curb before going to gather Simon up in his arms. He didn't want the Uber driver to have to wait for him to come back for the crutches. "I'll get those after we get you inside," he murmured, just in case Simon had any questions. He thanked the driver and maneuvered himself so that he could close the car door with his elbow. Then, they were walking up the driveway and around to the front door.
"Do you have your key on you?" It was either Simon had the key and could open the door for them, or Jae would have to set him down for a moment and reach for his own key. Whatever the case, all he wanted was to get inside and deposit the other man on the couch. The closeness was starting to make him feel...nervous? Nostalgic? Something he wasn't ready to feel.
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Dec 30, 2017 12:58:49 GMT -5
Youngjae managed to get the door open without dropping Simon, which he thought was pretty impressive, and went immediately to the living room space, setting the other down on the couch gently before running out to curb to retrieve the crutches. Once he had everything settled and under control, he went to the kitchen to see if Simon had stocked up on any ice cream. He needed something sweet.
"Do you want anything to eat, Simon?" He poked his head out of the kitchen so that he could see the other man. "Do you want me to bring you a blanket, maybe?"
It's been two years since Youngjae was able to call this house a home, but he still knew the layout of the place as well as he knew his own apartment. He kind of hated that. If only he'd been able to forget about Simon the way he forgot about all his hook-ups...
But Briana was proof that just the act of forgetting wouldn't solve all of his problems.
There was still a little more than three hours to go before he'd have to go and pick Briana up from school. His brain was starting to feel fuzzy again -- he'd need another cup of coffee. Maybe he could go get his car from his sister before school let out? Then he could spend the rest of the afternoon here. Resting. Or dealing with Briana. He didn't know. What do you even do with kids?
"I think I'll make some coffee. You want some? Or would you rather sleep?"
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Post by נσкσмαтσ on Jan 1, 2018 13:36:19 GMT -5
{ he's a clueless bean :') }
Youngjae remembers the days when he still thought that Simon claiming he wasn't hungry actually meant that he would say no to food. It'd taken him months to figure out the other's body had an annoying habit of tuning out all hunger signals under stress. So he hummed at Simon's response and went for the ice cream in the freezer anyway.
"Yeah. Ten pounds of creamer and sugar to match." Jae let out a light chuckle, fumbling around with the coffee machine until it started doing its job. He himself drank coffee black. His tastes had always been pretty bland and he'd always preferred the "original" flavors when it came to food and drink. He could still appreciate a nice sauce or a blend of spices, but he could get sick of added flavors pretty fast.
He ended up bringing the two cups of coffee out to the couch, setting them on the coffee table, before going back for the ice cream. Two years ago, he might have just taken the entire tub out, but he didn't feel right doing that now, when their relationship was...well it was non-existent. Youngjae scooped a good helping of the stuff into two bowls, grabbed spoons, and went to sit next to Simon on the couch, holding out one of the bowls.
"You still like chocolate, huh?"
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Asexual
sweetclover1
Hi loves, like my posts so I'll reply faster <3
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Post by sweetclover1 on Jan 1, 2018 23:51:19 GMT -5
Simon really did smile when Jae parroted back how Simon liked his coffee. Maybe he did remember more than Simon gave him credit for, and it was hard to keep up his scowling when Jae remembered his coffee order, which was a silly thing to soften himself up about but thats just how Simon was. He was always the type to love it when someone noticed the tiny details, whether it was his ex boyfriend or an acquaintance. He was maybe feeling a little nostalgic and whenever he felt himself softening even for a moment he had to brush it away and chalk that up to him being exhausted from his PT.
He took the coffee gratefully, wincing as he moved forward sluggishly to take it, and took a long drag of the warm liquid. If he were being honest with himself the way Jae made his coffee was Simons favorite. Even he couldn't quite master the perfect balance between creamer, sugar, and coffee but every time Jae seemed to do it perfectly and that was something that Simon could grudgingly admit if someone asked him.
He took the bowl given to him gratefully, a twinge in his chest, because they had never used bowls before. They'd always had eaten right out of the tub. But things were different now, weren't they? He couldn't just expect to eat out of a tub of ice-cream with someone he no longer actually knew. So he just took the bowl and started in on the chocolatey goodness, his coffee now forgotten now that he had his treat. He really did have a love of chocolate and was blushing when he was asked if he still liked chocolate.
"Of course I do. It's the best sweet there is." He responded, nixing what he used to say, which was it was the worlds most romantic food. Now that would be awkward to say to a former lover.
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