(no subject)

[iwasmore]

Noah holds his cellphone in hand, staring at the text. Nice linework, it says, with a photo of the portrait he drew hanging on display. He never figured Freddie would ever actually see the picture. It had been one of several portraits he'd done for class, and his professor had chosen it as the one to put in the student gallery. Noah hadn't invited anyone to come see it. He isn't sure why.

It was easy when I had such a good source of inspiration, he'd sent in reply.

It's been two days, but he hasn't received anything in return. And now he's staring at his phone like if he looks long enough a reply will just appear. Instead of calling-- but Freddie had agreed. Noah had been hurt and it's the only reason he suggested not seeing each other anymore, and Freddie had said okay and left. Noah had been bitter at first, that his friendship wasn't worth enough to even try. That he wasn't worth even an argument, that why, of everyone, couldn't Freddie look past what he was?

But now all he is is confused.

Noah exhales, and in the next breath he's outside Freddie's apartment door. Maybe this is a dumb move, or maybe it's dumber not to do anything at all. So he knocks.

Comments

[iwasmore]

Noah laughs at the look Freddie gives him, head falling back a moment, a soft oof in the middle when he gets jabbed at. He tries and fails to stop smiling and grabs Freddie's foot to keep it still.

"Holy Grail, yeah. But no, not everyone dies. A lot of people do, though. I guess it's sort of like a post apocalyptic show. Oh man, what kind of post apocalypse would you want to live in?" he asks. "Natural disaster, rabid animals, or...zombies?"

[thisfaceismine]

It's a strange question, not one he's ever considered before, though maybe that's strange in a place like this one which might very well turn post-apocalyptic at a moment's notice. Before quietly going back to normal once more.

"Is 'none of the above' an option," he replies after a moment's though. Noah's hand is warm on his foot and he keeps it there as he takes another sip of wine, making a noise as he swallows, remembering something. "Fucked a zombie hunter a few months ago, actually. She was surprisingly normal considering."

[iwasmore]

Noah begins to stroke up and down the sole of Freddie's foot. Not light enough to tickle, but soft enough to be just a tease of a foot rub. He freezes, though, at Freddie's statement, wine glass halfway to his mouth.

"Wait-- a zombie hunter? Was her name Beth?"

[thisfaceismine]

Though not quite a massage, it does feel nice and Freddie smirks a little, wiggling his toes like that might encourage Noah to keep going. But Noah goes still a moment later instead, blue eyes falling wide.

"You know her?" he asks though he isn't all that surprised. Everyone seems to know nearly everyone in this place. And Noah's a pretty social guy. "She was doing a show a a pub awhile back and we started chatting. Went back to mine after. Bit of an experiment on her part, I think, but the sex was good."

[iwasmore]

"Yeah..." Noah tries to figure out why it's so weird to hear. Is it because it's hard to imagine Beth in a sexual way? Is it because it's Freddie, because one of his friends slept with someone he's also slept with? Is he jealous? He doesn't want to be. It shouldn't make him uncomfortable, so he just takes a long sip of wine and tries not to let it be. "She's a friend of mine. She's a really good singer."

Noah rubs Freddie's foot again with the pads of his first three fingers, up and down. "I thought we were gonna watch TV."

[thisfaceismine]

Noah doesn't respond for a moment, long enough that Freddie definitely gets the impression he's said something wrong.

He frowns a little, curious as Noah appears to mull it over and then takes a huge sip of his wine, nearly finishing off the glass in one go. He's still got a hand loosely curled over Freddie's foot and Freddie wiggles his toes again, a reminder that he's still there before Noah seems to get the message.

"This seems a more interesting topic just now," he says, still watching Noah carefully. "You're not going weird on me because I fucked a girl, are you? I've told you before I go with both, haven't I?"

[iwasmore]

"What? No," Noah says, a little offended Freddie would even think that. For one thing, it would make him a huge hypocrite. For another, he'd like to think his own pettiness doesn't involve biphobia. "I like girls, too, remember?"

"And I'm not getting weird," he adds, finishing his wine and setting the empty glass on the end table behind him. He knows that's not exactly the truth, though, and obviously he's crappy at hiding it. He turns his attention on Freddie's foot, rubbing it with both his thumbs in a lame attempt at distracting him from the topic. "How's this?"

[thisfaceismine]

Freddie does remember, but he's still watching Noah carefully, brow furrowed because he's clearly uncomfortable about something. Maybe because Beth's his friend? After all, it's not as though Noah doesn't know that Freddie sleeps around a bit.

Another quick swallow and Noah's finished off his wine, reaching to set the glass aside before returning his attention to Freddie's foot. He lets out a soft grunt of appreciation, shifting a little to give Noah better access though his eyes remained narrowed.

"It was just the once," he says, like that might placate Noah somehow. "Haven't seen her since, really. Why's it bother you so much?"

[iwasmore]

Somehow hearing it was just one time makes it worse. Maybe it's because since he met Beth, when she was frantically looking for Daryl in the nightmare Darrow, he's always attached her to him. But it's pretty shitty to judge her for casually sleeping with someone, if that's even what's made it weird. "I don't know," he says honestly. "It doesn't bother me, I was just surprised to hear it."

"I guess," he says at length, "maybe it's sort of weird to know I've slept with someone who slept with another friend of mine, who sort of feels like a sister." He makes a face, but he smiles, after.

[thisfaceismine]

Freddie considers that a moment before his lips tug into a sort of grimace as he nods.

"Weird how everyone in this city knows everyone else, isn't it?" he says, once again wiggling his toes to remind Noah of where his hand is. "Should I ask for a list of people you consider family so I know not to fuck them?"

[iwasmore]

Noah goes back to rubbing Freddie's foot, making a tsk sound at how demanding he is. He moves his hands up, giving attention to Freddie's ankle and calf.

"No, geez," Noah says, blushing a little. "My immediate family, anyway, they wouldn't. They're all already in relationships. Like, pretty much monogamous, I think." He can't really see any of them sleeping around, not with a stranger at least.

[thisfaceismine]

It's no professional massage, but it's certainly nice all the same, especially when Noah's hand wanders a little higher up his calf. It's not exactly a sexual touch, but it very well could be in time.

"You think," Freddie says because that doesn't sound very certain at all. In his experience, people are often monogamous right up until the moment they aren't. But Noah's spoken enough about his friends to have a decent idea of who to avoid. At least those Noah lives with. He flexes his foot then, sinking further into the cushions as he keeps his eyes on Noah. "We good then?"

[iwasmore]

Noah rolls his eyes, but smiles a little. "Yeah, we're good." He's not about to argue the probability of one of his friends sleeping with Freddie, he knows they wouldn't unless they broke up with their partners. They just aren't like that. He scoots a little closer and moves his hands to Freddie's other foot, giving it the same attention.

"Anyone here I should avoid hooking up with?" he asks in turn, but it's more of a joke than a question. He doesn't exactly see himself sleeping with anyone else.

[thisfaceismine]

Noah switches his attention to Freddie's other foot so Freddie tucks his now-free one under Noah's thigh for warmth.

"You think I actually have friends?" he asks with a faint smirk. "That's generous." He pretends to consider it then before shaking his head. "N'aw, you can fuck whoever you want, mate. Wouldn't mind joining in if you think of me, though."

[iwasmore]

"You still want to...sleep with me?" Noah asks with a soft, nervous laugh, ducking his face to hide his smile. He was so happy Freddie wanted to be friends, but if Freddie still wants to be intimate that must mean he trusts Noah. He hasn't messed up everything, after all.

He goes back to rubbing Freddie's foot, but pauses. "Wait, you don't have friends? Because you don't want them, or like...?" He shakes his head, unable to figure out why Freddie wouldn't have any beyond just refusing to have any.

[thisfaceismine]

"Well, that's what we do, isn't it?" he replies, a bit confused by Noah's question. Freddie's had friends he hasn't fucked, but they're fairly few and far between. Back in England, has far more that he's only fucked once or a handful of times, though he supposes not many of them would ever call him a friend, really.

So he answers only with a shrug. "Just don't," he says easily, ignoring the way it makes him sound and feel a bit pathetic. "Don't make a very good one, do I?"

[iwasmore]

"We don't have to," Noah insists, his face heating up, because the way Freddie says it makes it sound like it's a chore, or expected. That's kind of mortifying. The last thing he wants is for Freddie to think he's, like, obligated, or that's the only reason Noah likes him. "Do you think that's all I like?"

His face falls, slipping toward downright sad. "I mean, I thought I was your friend." He pauses and tries to smile, but it comes out wobbly. "Now that you aren't mad at me."

[thisfaceismine]

"Maybe not all you like," Freddie concedes though he knows where his skills lie and fucking is pretty high on the list.

In fact, fucking might well be the only thing on the list.

"And I wasn't mad," he argues then, frowning as he draws his foot back, suddenly feeling a bit too exposed once again. "Or-- No, I was mad. It's just. Whether one is living or dead seems the kind of thing to share with a friend, doesn't it? Would you have told me sooner if we hadn't been fucking?"

[iwasmore]

"I don't know," Noah says, moving his hands to Freddie's knees, kneeling on his own to lean against Freddie's drawn up legs. He curls his arms around them like a hug, resting his chin on his arms to gaze at Freddie. "There are friends I haven't told. I'm not trying to keep it a secret, sometimes I just don't know how to say it, or I don't want to scare them..."

"But it was different with you, because being with you has always been easy, and I just...didn't want that to change. I know I was being selfish," he says, eyebrows furrowed in worry. "I promise I'll be a better friend from now on."

[thisfaceismine]

He isn't expecting Noah to move closer to rest those arms on his knees and lean in. And he isn't expecting to feel glad for it, brow furrowing a bit at the warmth of Noah's skin on his bare knees. It's still a bit strange reconciling that with the idea that he's supposedly a ghost.

"It's not like I even know what means," he points out with a little bit of a sulk. "Just be you, yeah. Even if that means being a ghost. Apart from the mind-reading thing, have you had to hide much else to keep it a secret?"

[iwasmore]

Noah isn't sure what Freddie means when he says he doesn't know what it means, and his face screws up in confusion. The expression is gone the next moment, replaced with a smile. Just be you. He does want to be himself around Freddie, and he finds that he's glad he can be now. The secret didn't make anything easier, keeping it only weighed on him.

"Nah," he says. "But I can do this..."

He disappears, reappearing a few moments later, sitting back against the arm of the couch the way he'd been sitting before.

[thisfaceismine]

There's a strange flicker across Noah's face, difficult to follow from one moment to the next. But he's smiling at the end, looking as much like Noah as he ever has.

And then he's gone.

Freddie jerks with the shock of it, yanking his foot back as his heart leaps into his throat and sticks there. When Noah reemerges moments later just exactly where he'd been before, Freddie clutches at his own shirt. "Jesus," he breathes before flinging his other leg out to shove at Noah's, partially just to make sure he's solid and there. "Did you-- You can do that whenever you please?"

[iwasmore]

Noah laughs at Freddie's reaction, pushing his foot away in an attempt to try and avoid being kicked. He moves Freddie's leg back so he can crawl back up between his knees, draping himself lazily against them. "Yeah, pretty much. It's how I got here, I didn't bother walking or anything," he says. He was polite enough to use the door, at least.

[thisfaceismine]

Freddie doesn't fight Noah's maneuvering, but he's still watching him carefully as Noah leans forward against Freddie's legs.

"Least you knocked," he says because he can't imagine the heart attack he might have had if Noah had just appeared inside his flat. "So, mind-reading and teleportation," he says, shifting his feet a bit to warm them against Noah's knees. "Anything else? Can you, like, talk to other ghosts?"

[iwasmore]

"Yeah," Noah says with a grimace, curling his fingers lightly along Freddie's leg, brushing them through his fine hair. "I can see them, the ones you can't. In fact..." He gives Freddie an ominous look, doing his best not to smile, and looks up at a point behind Freddie. "There's one here now."