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Kai has at some point given Jay his new address, since he's not at his old apartment turned studio very often. Now it's a posh apartment in one of the richer parts of town, and Kai's alone at the moment in sweats and a t-shirt. Kevin's under a chair, chewing on a plush frog that looks like it has been through the wringer. Kai has a beer and is watching tv whle the stereo is on, because Kai.
Finding his way to the new apartment, Jay still takes public transit whenever he can, and nods to himself quietly when he comes upon the building. /This/ makes a little bit more sense. Though it was with a gentle bitter-sweet feeling he strolled his way up to the building, his wings beared to the world and after some of the noise in mutant town had finally died down, he's only been screamed at a couple times during his trip. Dressed in a thick sweater, Jay had to take particular care taking the stitches out of the back to make sure the whole thing didn't unravel on him, burning and stitching it in place. His million-yard scarf wound around his neck and draped over his shoulders. One day he's probably going to get lynched with that thing, but for now it's just a delightful little addition. And warm. The little black feather stuck in there resting against his jaw. A polite knock-knock-knock on the door, he rocks on his feet, heel-to-toe just once while he waits.
Kai comes to the door and opens it. "Yes?" he says amiably enough. Then he sees who it is, and he practically leaps on Jay. "Jay!" he says. "Jay, Jay, Jay, come in!" Which would be easier if he didn't have an elf latched on to him like a limpet. "Jay, it's so good to see you!" From under his chair, Kevin barks. Something's going on! Awoowoowoo!
Kai drags Jay inside and closes the door. "Let me get you a beer," he says. "Oh my gosh, it's so good to see you! Then, just as quickly as Kai was upon Jay, he's left him, heading into the kitchen to get that beer. "How did you enjoy the trip? Sorry if he kidnapped you."
With a slightly awkward shuffle, Jay is staring at his toes when Kai opens the door. Looking up with a ready smile when he sees the elfin man, Jay opens his mouth…and is immediately leapt upon! He doesn't go so far as to stumble around, but instead catches the flung man and holds on tight with his arms around Kai's back. "Well, /hi there/. Gosh. I wish Ah got greeted like that wherever Ah went." Chuckling softly with a couple claps on Kai's back while he's dragged inside. "Whoa—okay!"
Trailing a messenger bag slung over his chest, the bag hangs down by his hip. Watching Kai zip around like a busy bee, Jay sticks to the entry way, barely moving from where he was planted. "Uh, yeah. He did. Mah roommate an' my work didn't seem super into me suddenly vanishing, but Ah smoothed it over. Did he tell you about it?"
"Yeah, Kai says as he returns with the beer, which he offers over. "He didn't leave a note." With a little laugh, he said, "I thought he'd left me." He goes to turn off the TV and stereo so he's not talking over both of them. Kevin comes out from under the chair, dragging the stuffed toy, which is almost as big as he is, and he lets go of it to waggle his butt over to Jay. Hey, he knows this guy!
Kai takes up his own beer and gestures to the couch. It's a cushy couch, very comfy. It looks like he's set up a little base camp around it in pillows, a blanket, some snacks and beer bottles. "So how was it? He seemed to have fun. I hope you did, too."
"You thought he left you?" Jay wrinkles his nose up curiously, taking the beer from Kai. But when Kevin wigglebutts over, he bends down to pick Kevin up just like he used to, tossing the little pup up in the air and holding him just over Jay's head, likewise making little grunting and growling sounds playfully at him. "It was just four days, though." Puffing little bursts of air in Kevin's face playfully.
"It was a lot of fun, yeah." Jay agrees emphatically, playing with the ugly little dog. Eventually tucking him up under Jay's armpit like a football. "Ah mean, once Ah relaxed and realized he wasn't gonna let me go back until he was done. No reason in ruinin' a good time by worryin' about stuff you can't control, right?"
Kai says, "Well, he was just gone when I got home and he didn't come home. Four days, that's a long time to be gone, and I know he's too strong for anyone to kill him." He puts on a brittle smile. Four days of wondering what he did wrong. But it's no big deal. While Kevin is beside himself with glee, Kai sits with his beer and watches Jay. "He's never left for that long before," he says. "When I'm gone for any amount of time, he treats it like a big deal. I thought… well, never mind what I thought. You're right. It was just four days.
"I'm learning to not worry about a lot of things I don't have control over," he says. "With him, you might as well resign yourself. He probably needed the break, and I know you did."
Jay shrugs gently as he tucks the dog under his arm on his way back to the couch as offered. The animal placed back down once he reaches his destination, there's a serene curve of Jay's mouth as his wings shiver a little bit. "Sorry. Ah don't know what kind of arrangement y'all have going on over here. Didn't mean to sound like Ah was dismissin' it all. Ah know my roommate got worried about me, which probably sounds sort of stupid to some folks." He shrugs a little bit, perching on the other side of the couch, giving Kai space, sipping on his beer while Kai explains further. Jay nods slowly his understanding, brows twitching together gently. "You know that Ah did? H-how do you mean?"
Kai admits, "Neither do I. He just let me know to get used to it and, well." He ducks his head. "How I feel isn't really of any concern. I try to make the best of it." He sighs, then shrugs a shoulder. "You just carry so much of the world on your shoulders, and you took such good care of Kevin while I was away, and you're just like that to people. You take care of them. So I figured you needed to be taken care of." He smiles a little. "I am glad you got to do that."
Listening to the resolution that Kai and his SO came to, Jay cocks his head curiously to one side, eyes squinting slightly as it hits him a little askew. "That…sounds…different." Though he's not exactly wont to tell his friend any business about his relationship. The questionmarks in his voice are pretty distinct on the upwards inflection, though.
The shift of the topic on to him makes Jay dip his head and thumb at the label on his beer bottle. "Ah didn't do much with Kev." Though his small novela on the care and feeding of sobbing elves has reached number 50 on the best seller list. "But thanks. It doesn't really matter, either way. Now Ah just feel like a heel that you had a rough time with it."
Kai shakes his head and says, "No, don't. Don't feel bad. You're my sweetest friend, and I'm glad that's what happened. Relieved. I mean he took one of my dearest friends somewhere nice. How many husbands do that?" He lays a hand on Jay's shoulder. "It's not your problem, whatever's going on with me and Loki. That's just something we need to sort out. You are a sweetheart who deserves to have a good time, so tell me all about it."
Jay looks to his shoulder when Kai grips it, glancing at the curled hand briefly. Looking back down to his beer bottle, there's a pause of hesitation as he gives the object a somewhat hesitant look, then takes another pull off it. "It doesn't so much matter, Kai." Turning a small smile in his friend's direction, Jay reaches down to set the bottle between his feet so Kevin can't knock it over. "Ah actually did come by though because Ah brought you somethin' back and wanted to drop it off." Offering mildly, the angel-imposter's wings shiver, then compress against his shoulders, wingtips brushing the floor in front of him as he leans to rummage through his messenger bag.
Kai looks at Jay, those big blue eyes staring deeply. "Jay," he says quietly, "it will cheer me up if you tell me. I know that may seem weird, but I'm weird. You see, there's happiness here, there's joy, and that makes me happy and joyful. For all my worry, let me celebrate with you?" He smiles a little, hopeful. Then Jay says he's brought something, and Kai perks up. "For me?" He bounces a bit where he sits.
Thank goodness for the distraction of bringing gifts along for the ride because for the moment, Jay doesn't seem terribly happy about having to talk about the trip. Regardless of that imploring look. Instead, he offers a pale curve of his mouth and digs in his bag for whatever it is he brought for Kai. "So, Ah felt weird about tryin' to bring you something back from the place that yer family is /from/ anyway. Sorta like…bringin' someone originally from New York a cheesy pen with the empire state buildin' on it, right? Instead, Ah started thinkin' about the kinds of things that /Ah/ miss from back home." Jay brings up a brightly colored parcel that seems very much light layers of tissue paper bound together in a couple ribbons. Offering it out to Kai, one side of his mouth twitching upwards with a 'shucks' sort of helpless expression. "Someone told me that these were supposed t'be the best sweets in town. Ah don't really know how true it is, but at least they looked pretty neat."
"You went to Scotland?" Kai asks. He takes the parcel and unwraps it quickly. "Jay, thank you! I love sweets." He tears at paper until he can get at the candy. Then he offers some to Jay before taking a piece. This isn't getting shared with anyone else. "I'm sorry I bummed you out," he says. "I'm still adjusting to this new, uh, arrangement. It was news to me is all. I shouldn't have said anything."
Jay hesitates a moment, blinking owlishly at Kai when he asks if they went to Scotland. "N-no…" He practically chirps, looking pretty uncertain for a moment while he second guesses his choices. The little candies are akin to taffy, but they're shaped like tiny multicolored salamanders, snails, and sprites. All rather playful looking things that melt in the mouth far quicker than taffy. "W-we went to Alfheim." The uncertainty clear in his tone. "Ah mean, Ah know you were born in Europe an' raised in England, but yer family's from.. … …right?" Green eyes squint.
Kai is in his salamander candy place, eyes lidded. "Oh," he says, "my parents are from Alfheim. I ran away after about thirty years; my grandmother's unbearable. But the candy there is so good!" He helps himself to another, and he says, "I'm going back after the new year to see if I can help get my mom out of prison. It's great to visit though, isn't it? I mean I love the place, just not being under my grans's thumb. Did you try Firefly wine? You can't go to Alfheim and not try Firefly wine."
Relief actually paints Jay's face when Kai confirms that he isn't absolutely insane and remembered something correctly. "That's what Ah thought. An' the couple of weeks AH was here, tryin' to take care of you, Ah noticed you had almost nothin' but sweets in the apartment." The connection there as well, the little nuances that Jay's noticed about Kai.
The young man winces a hint, smiling mildly after the fact. "Yeah. Ah might've had a couple of encounters with that stuff. They don't really tell ya that something with such a playful name can pack a whollop."
Kai grins and ducks his head, "Guilty as charged. I could live off sugar." Whether or not that's true, he takes a third piece of candy and offers some to Jay. "You were so good to me, Jay. I never got to thank you properly. The best I can do is try to be a good friend to you, I think." Then he grins more broadly to hear Jay had an few encounters with Firefly wine. "It's made for an Elvish constitution," he says. "My gran owns a vineyard and winery. We make the stuff. Our family, I mean. I'm a moon elf, and that's kind of what we do."
His eyes widen suddenly. "Jay! This was your first trip to another world! Oh my god, man, how was it? Did it blow your mind? Were you like 'woah?'"
The bag tilted toward him, Jay peers inside and picks out a pretty small snail looking creature; the shell a bright swirl of pink, blue and yellow. "You don't gotta bring it up, Kai. Ah was just sayin' that Ah noticed what you liked so Ah thought you might like something from back there. Ah know food's one of those sorta regional things that a soul gets to missin' sometimes." Scooping a hand through his hair while he sucks on that sweet, scattering bright pieces of red hair to frame his face.
The realization that it was Jay's first jump off world, he smiles, subdued, but warm, nodding slightly as he buckles up his bag again. "Mm hmm, it was. It was pretty amazin'. You know it all, of course, but once Ah got over mah freak out, it all really turned out nice."
"It's perfect," Kai says as he sucks on a salamander's head, holding it by the tail. "Man, I freaked out my first time, too, but I had some warning first. I can't imagine going through that cold." He flips a curl out of his face and goes back to slurping on the sweet. "The faires there are amazing. Next time you go, I'll give you a list of all the places you need to see." Because of course Jay is going back, right? Who wouldn't go back given a chance? "Wow, that's so cool, man. It's better you went there anyway. I bet everything in Scotland's changed. It was, like, two hundred years ago."
Jay lids his eyes a moment, then corrects his expression thoughtfully with a brief flick of red lashes to his cheeks, then bouncing his attention back up. "Yeah, gettin' there wasn't exactly the best experience. The only question Ah got beforehand was if anyone would die if I weren't around. Next thing Ah know…" Jay drifts off and shrugs helplessly. "Mah freak out was mostly frettin' about what mah roommates were gonna think. We kinda had a rash of people bein' kidnapped this summer for bein' mutants, and Ah didn't want them to worry. Of course, he didn't really see my point." Jay kneads his knuckle into his jaw lightly. "Ah think his words were somethin' like," Jay switches to a mimicry of Loki's accent, though the voice is still his own, which is kind of funny to hear. "'You are not important enough that anyone will /die/ with your absence. They will be fine, as are you.'" Shrugging mildly just after. "There was some kind of festival or somethin' happenin' while we were there, which was pretty amazin'."
Kai shakes his head and says, "He wouldn't." He smiles a little. Maybe it's a little endearing. Maybe. When it's not happening to him. He laughs then despite himself and pats Jay's knee. "Yeah, that sounds like him. He doesn't mean anything by it." He nods then and says, "There are a lot of festivals and celebrations. We're a very festival-oriented culture." For someone who doesn't claim to really be from Alfheim, he sure sounds proud when he talks about it.
Yeah, no, not endearing. Not to Jay at least. He simply shrugs a shoulder and arches an eyebrow at Kai, an amused little twist of his lips. "Oh no, he means it, Ah'm pretty certain of that. But that's just what comes with the package. He comes first, his opinion matters most, an' that's how it goes. That's cool. If the most Ah gotta deal with it is fer what turned out to be a surprise trip, Ah'm okay with it. Kale forgave me after a little explainin', so no foul." Looping his bag up over his shoulder, Jay picks his beer up for another deep drink. "The festival parts were really impressive. Y'all really throw yerselves into it."
"We exist to celebrate life," Kai says. He sighs, though, as Jay describes Loki perfectly, and no, Kai didn't really grok it til a couple days ago. He shows Jay the string he's had tied around his wrist for, gosh, months now? It's looking pretty well frayed. "This was a handfasting I didn't know we were having. I didn't find out we were married for, like, six months." Which doesn't seem to bother him, honestly. "I love him. Sometimes I wish I didn't love him quite so much, but we love. We live, and we love, and we do it all with such intensity. That's the kind of blood that runs through me." He smiles. "I'm glad your roommate forgave you. If there had been kidnappings, I can imagine he was worried."
"It's a heck of a thing to exist for," Jay says appreciatively, though his appreciation is probably informed from his last four days in the realm. "Ah really like that, actually. Ah wish more things or places were a little bit more like that." Gathering to his feet, Jay resituates his scarf around his neck a little bit, wings fluttering when he looks to the frayed string with a curious degree. His eyes squinting slightly while he reaches to grasp the concept until Kai explains it. "Oh. Yeah. That's…somethin' else, there." A peculiar quirk of his brows reflected throughout his expression. There's a gentle shrug, not about to try to convince Kai of anything one way or another. "It's what you chose, Kai. Ah'm not about to tell you how to live yer life or what is or isn't right. You chose that one so Ah figure you knew what you were gettin' into, the bad with the good. Good on you, too. Ah don't think Ah could abide something like that." At peace with the differences in preference.
"Yeah, he weren't pleased. The last guy who got snatched who had wings kind of had them torn off his body and replaced with poisonous knives. Sayin' that he was 'worried' is an understatement. Ah might have to bring his boyfriend an apology gift or somethin'." Jay chuckles mildly. "But, Ah got another trip to make before Ah got my class over at the center to make."
"Me, too," Kai says. "People think it's such a waste of time here, but life is beautiful, so why not live it in beauty?" He rises to his feet and tries to help with the scarf. "This is brilliant," he says. He then studies Jay's features and tells him, "When I was dead, he led a brigade of gods and heroes into the underworld to get me back. Trust me, Jay, there's no one else I'd choose." He kisses his friend on the cheek. "I love you, and I'm glad you had a good time. And I'm glad you brought me candy, because I love it. Thank you."
"Good. Then remember that next time you get upset because he went off on another run somewhere else, hm? You don't get t'pick and choose around a quality just when it suits you. People are just people." Jay levels a look at his friend, brows arching upward a little bit as he prepares for the bracing autumn again. The kiss on the cheek gets a quick dart of his gaze away, coming back a moment later with a tiny upward tug of his mouth by the edges. A hint of solemnity hitting the mild young man's tone, "Lots of us don't get to have somethin' like that, or someone who'd do somethin' like that for us. So count yer blessin's." He nods a couple times and turns for the door. "Glad you liked it. Ah know it's somethin' you could get any time you wanted but, Ah don't know." Jay drifts his words a little bit, not quite as outwardly warm and affectionate as when he came here this summer, but these things happen. "Ah'll see you later, Kai. Have a good one."
Kai holds up his hands. "Okay, okay." He then says, "I'll count every one of them, including this candy." Sure he might be able to get it anytime, but it was a gift and it was given to him. That makes it about ten billion times tastier. Ala, the elf is easily bought. "Take care, Jay." He then picks up Kevin because the dog tries to follow Jay out.
"Yeah, Ah miss you too, Kev. Stay though, buddy." Jay smiles softly at the ugly little creature made of little rainbows. Pulling the door closed quietly behind himself, a green eye tosses back a quick wink to Kai as he leaves. "Bye."