Simon sat down on the couch, very slowly, as if afraid that his movements would set Kaye off. He shifted, clearly uncomfortable in the foreign environment, ready to spring away if need by.
"Not too far, maybe ten minutes by subway?" he replied carefully, not wanting to discern the exact location.
Kaye hummed in understanding, rubbing his arms and hugging them closer to himself as if he were cold. In his drunken state, he didn't even notice how Simon seemed to be uncomfortable. His drunk self had also invited the other over, though he wasn't regretting it yet, or thought he would anytime soon.
"What did you think of Ashley?" Kaye asked at an attempt to make small talk. Though, part of him was still genuinely curious because of how he saw Simon watching his friend in the bar.
An almost unnoticeable pink rose to Simon's cheeks at the mention of the attractive bartender, but he made sure to keep his voice steady. "He seemed nice enough," he said by way of reply, not wanting to give away too much. Hell, this was practically a stranger, and he'd already basically come out to him.
"Nice enough, huh?" Kaye teased, a small hum in his voice as he watched Simon. After a few moments, a small, drunk laugh escaped him at the thought of Simon in the bar with Ashley, the first laugh that he had let others hear tonight.
"It looked like you had a little crush," he added, a faint grin crossing his features in the dimmer light. Kaye usually wasn't this teasing with others at first, though the alcohol seemed to bring it out faster.
The blush deepened, becoming very noticeable all of a sudden. Trying and failing to collect himself, Simon managed to stammer out a half-decent answer. “I didn’t like him— I just— I just thought he was cute—“ He resided a teasing eyebrow, finally finding a bit of bravado. “Was it just me, or were you.. jealous?”
"Me? Jealous?" Kaye repeated, crossing his arms over his chest with a small huff as he thought of what his response would be. He felt his cheeks flush faintly, and decided to use a heavy frown to cover it up, though it looked like a rather adorable pout on his features.
"I-I wasn't jealous. Not exactly…I-I don't know," he stammered with a small sigh at the end as he leaned against the couch further. How could he explain how he felt without sounding stupid? He had just met Simon and he had no right to like them.
Simon now has the upper hand and be intended to keep it. He raised his eyebrow higher, leaning closer slightly. “Not exactly? Then what were you, Kaye?” He had to admit… this was fun. It wasn’t flirting, right? Just… teasing.
"I was– it was–," Kaye started, his voice stammered as Simon leaned in closer to him. It was as if his words refused to come out at all. He tried to move further away discreetly and somehow get rid of the deepening blush that crept across his pale face, though they were fruitless attempts. Simon had practically backed him into a corner.
"Okay…maybe I was a little jealous. Ashley's the cute one, I'm not. He's good at talking, I just sit in the background," Kaye finally said with a loose shrug, finally expressing himself and a few of his insecurities.
Simon was mildly surprised at the fact that Kaye was confessing… and immediately felt bad. He was drunk, after all, he couldn’t exactly help it. But even so, he couldn’t resist one last question. “Were you jealous of Ashley or me?”
"…Ashley," Kaye finally mumbled, the word's leaving his mouth before he could control it. He hadn't intended to say so much, though he would probably forget half of it in the morning, leaving the two at acquaintances once again.
The blush returned, creeping slowly across Simon’s face. What?? That’s not— that’s not possible— A large part of him felt guilty for obtaining the information from a drunk man with no filter.. but another part of him felt strangely pleased. “O-Oh. Oh.”
"Sorry, that was…stupid," Kaye muttered as he looked down towards his hands, willing the blush on his cheeks to leave. He wondered what Simon's response meant, if he was disgusted or shocked, or simply just surprised.
Simon didn’t move for a minute or so, staring down at his hands as guilt slowly crushed him. This was his fault. He’d ruined everything. After a long stretch of silence, he looked back up. “No, that was stupid of me. It’s fine. Let’s just move past this.”
Kaye glanced back up towards Simon, nodding before he looked around the couch for something, his hand finally settling on a remote. He wished he hadn't admitted how he had felt back in the bar to Simon, though he knew that it was bound to come out soon. He just didn't want Simon blaming himself for it.
"Know any good shows?" Kaye asked, his voice returning to it's usual tone as if he had completely forgotten about what had just happened, and he probably already did.
Simon shook his head, forcing a nonchalant expression into his face even as his head was spinning. “I don’t watch much TV. What about you?” he asked, trying his best to keep his breathing even.
"Me neither. I barely even know how to work this remote," Kaye replied, finally switching the old television on and settling on a comedy show that he heard was rather humorous. After a few minutes of watching, he was already laughing lightly and leaning forward on the couch, as if he could practically fall off in his drunk state.
Simon stayed quiet. His mind drifted, not really paying attention to the TV anymore, he was just fake laughing whenever Kaye did at this point. Eventually, he gave up and stood. “Where’s your washroom?”
"Down the hall, first door to the left," Kaye answered nonchalantly as if he were repeating something he had said a thousand times. He yawned and rubbed his eyes tiredly before returning his gaze back to the old television.
Simon couldn’t get out of the living room fast enough. For the second time that night, he found himself taking refuge in a small washroom, which was pathetic on his part. There was no reason to be hiding.
Kaye’s drunk, he reasoned with himself, There’s no reason for him to actually mean what he said. It isn’t possible.
Kaye glanced over towards Simon as they walked away, a thoughtful look crossing his features as he watched the other man. Had he said something wrong? Though, in this drunk state of mind, he could barely comprehend what had happened in the last few minutes. Instead, Kaye turned his thoughts towards the television, trying to keep his eyes open as he felt himself drift off. Sleep sounded really good at the moment…
It took a few minutes, but he finally succeeded in convincing himself that Kaye's words had meant nothing. Without the use of Song, too. Chewing on his already bloodied lip, Simon sighed, checked his appearance, and slipped out of the bathroom. He made his way back to Kaye, who appeared to be… asleep?
Kaye was in fact, sprawled across the couch, his chest rising and falling slowly in a way of signaling that he was asleep. He looked rather peaceful too, a softer look on his features instead of a frown, and his messy hair falling across his forehead. It didn't look like he would be awake anytime soon.
Simon stood there for a minute, paralyzed by indecision. Should he cover Kaye with a blanket? Where were the blankets? Should he walk away? Leave a note and head out? Or try to find somewhere to sleep in here? Where would Kaye want him to sleep?
He normally would have woken the other man, but he looked so at peace, calm, that he didn’t dare. Eventually, he sighed, located an old blanket, draped it over Kaye’s shoulders, then curled up on the hard floor.
(should we skip to the morning?)
(Sure)