hollow_moon | For Jag

For Jag

Their time together at his grandfather's had been lovely, and spent mostly in bed. Eventually, however, Val had been forced to return to work, and he was certain Jag would have to do the same.

"I've a lot going on in the next week, but I swear I'll call you the moment I've got it all under control," he'd promised- And he'd been true to his word, inviting Jag to join him for dinner the first chance he got.

He'd considered restaurants, but Jag wasn't much for being spoiled in Val's experience. He'd have gladly cooked a meal for the man himself, but he hadn't had a chance to pick up groceries, and they'd never be delivered on time... So he'd settled on a catered dinner at the museum. Nothing too posh, but a nice mix of South Korean cuisine that he hoped Jag would like.

Meeting at the museum meant Val could work right up until the moment Jag arrived- Something he didn't find ideal, but was certainly necessary at the moment while they switched out several of the exhibits and went through various requests to lend out certain items.

"I'll leave the back door unlocked," he'd told Jag. "Just let yourself in, I'll likely hear you coming, but if i don't I'll just be in my office."

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It still felt like all of it had been a dream. Nightmare, at first, sure, but then dream, definitely. Of the idyllic variety. A few days away from everybody, with no obligation to put any clothes on. The perfect sort of getaway, where you could ignore real life.

Coming back to London had left Jag feeling both thankful and apprehensive. Thankful for what they'd had so far, thankful for being back in the squat with Em and the boys, thankful for going back to busking, to playing with his fire for an audience. But there was a fair bit of apprehension as well, given that he'd kept chickening out of bringing up some rather sensitive topics, unwilling to break the spell of those few days in the countryside.

Now they were back in the real world, and their issues would rear their ugly heads again, he figured. They really ought to talk, to give themselves a chance, before he hurt Val without meaning to or was thrown for another loop a day the wolf was more in control than not. And Val didn't call for about a week, which started Jag wondering whether it might not have been an actual dream. A hallucination. A mental break.

So when Val had called, he'd had to work hard not to sound as relieved as he actually was. Not a dream, they were real. He'd lifted a wallet off a busy City man, rather than go the uncertain route of trying to get enough busking, and he'd been in luck, finding a couple hundred pounds cash inside it. Serious bloody luck, and he was going to look at it as a good sign and not ask Em to have a look at the tarot for him. Best not to know what lay ahead.

So he'd been able to buy a very decent bottle of wine, this time, something that would hopefully even meet Val's tastes. That silenced Drina's voice in the back of his head, going on about the rules of hospitality and the symbolic importance of gifts. He'd made sure to find a t-shirt with no holes in it, and a pair of jeans that weren't ripped, before shrugging on his hoodie and battered old leather jacket to head on over.

The back door was unlocked, as promised, and Jag conscientiously closed it again behind him, before taking a few steps into the otherwise closed museum. "Val?" he called out, heading for where he thought he remembered his office being and pulling the beanie off his head to push it inside his jacket pocket.

Val perked up at the sound of Jag's voice, poking his head out of his office with a grin.

"You have perfect timing. I was just finishing up and the food only arrived a moment ago. I had them set up in one of the empty exhibit rooms. Do you like Korean?"

"Sure," Jag agreed with a small smile, naturally there on his lips at the sight of Val. He walked over, holding the bottle by the neck. "Finishing up as in you have, or as in you need five more minutes?" he asked, reaching Val and laying a hand on his chest, an affectionate gesture and a manifestation of his need for touch to feel at ease.

"As in, even if I had five hours more to do, I'd say screw it and worry tomorrow," Val grinned, covering Jag's hand with his own and pulling him in for a kiss.

Jag's smile widened slightly before disappearing completely in favour of kissing Val. He forced himself to break it after a moment, because he knew himself, and if he didn't he'd just end up wanting more, here and now.

Okay, he already wanted more here and now, but that was just... Val. And that rush of happiness from a simple kiss.

"Hey," he told him, eyes bright. "Korean?"

"Yes, come on. Let's go," he grinned offering his hand to lead Jag to the exhibit room that was now host to a table, chairs, and a small feast.

"I brought..." He raised his hand to show the bottle of wine to Val as he followed. He had no idea if it would work with the meal. Which they then got to, and Jag's eyebrows raised, before whistling appreciatively. "So you're hungry, are you?"

"I... I wasn't sure what to get," Val confessed, taking the bottle with a laugh. "I didn't want to risk not having something you liked, so I got a bit of everything. I thought, perhaps, anything left over you could take home to share with your room mates. Nothing wasted and all that. ...Unless- I don't mean that in a rude way, just- Well, it's not like there's any point in taking what remains back to mine," he explained, hoping he hadn't just put his foot in it again.

"Yeah, no, that's - that would be cool," Jag told him with a soft smile. He wasn't oblivious to the fact that Val had sounded apologetic about it, by the end of his little ramble. But Jag was learning not to take it personally, when Val did things like that, and he turned back to him, both hands on his waist, and pecked his lips. "I'm sure they like Korean, too. Thank you."

Val relaxed, then smiled faintly.

"Lovely," he grinned. "Lovely- Let's sit, let's eat. I'll open the bottle."

"Of couse, yes," Jag agreed, reluctantly moving away to let him do just that. He snatched a piece of chicken off a plate to nibble on, then turned back to Val as he took care of the bottle. "So. How've you been?"

"Busy," Val sighed. "We're switching some exhibits out for the new season, and there are dozens of collections about to go out on tour... It's been nothing but paperwork. I'm drowning in it," he confessed as he popped the cork.

"So we took our little holiday at the exact wrong time, yeah?" Jag noted, amused and sympathetic, but not in the least bit remorseful.

"A bit," Val confessed. "I don't regret it though, not at all. ...Just means I've some catching up to do, that's all."

He poured them each a glass, then took a seat, starting to fill his plate and gesturing for Jag to do the same.

"What about you? Have you been busy?" he asked.

Jag followed suit, and wasn't shy about piling things up on his plate. And then some. "Back to the usual. Busking, drinking and making the most of life." There was something to be said for living day to day, or close enough. "Trying to forget about the bad parts of Halloween, too."

"Yes. A lot about that night's been haunting me- Though mostly overshadowed by the good that came after," he added with a soft smile.

"It's weird, innit?" Jag agreed with a nod, still helping himself to food. "Not being able to completely hate it?"

"It's quite frustrating. I want to be angry, but... Well, then I remember that it lead to finding you. ...I'd not trade that reunion for anything," Val agreed softly.

Jag met his eyes for a second, smiling softly, and then turned to the food and started eating. "Yeah, that's it exactly. This is good," he added after a first bite, smiling over at Val again.

"I'm glad you like it," Val smiled, picking at his own food, though his full attention was on Jag.

"We could've skipped the food and I'd've been happy," Jag replied, eyes warm as his foot found Val's under the table, resting his ankle against his. "But yeah," he added with a grin, "good food doesn't hurt."

"I wont pretend that's not tempting," Val laughed, bumping Jag's foot in return. "Though I did think, perhaps, it would be good for us to simply... Well, talk, you know? I feel like we've both been avoiding it a bit."

Jag winced slightly, then offered, "A bit?" He'd been avoiding it a lot, personally. "Yeah, yeah, it'd be good. I just -" He wasn't sure he'd keep having an appetite for much longer, if they did, but they sort of had to, at some point. Preferably before the wolf took charge again and... "Where do you want to start?"

"I don't know," Val sighed. "I suppose a good place to start would be... The wolf. The things I said when he- Well, you know. When he's in control I get cruel- Vicious even."

Jag swallowed the bite he'd just had and put his hands down on the table. "Yeah but - what you said - it was all true, wasn't it? It was what you felt?"

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