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Doug's presents were delivered by parcel service.
At some point, several days later, Doug delivers himself. He's been working, as evinced by the tweed suit and bow tie, though he's wearing a wool peacoat and a long scarf over top of it right now. He calmly rings at Jay's building — *bzzzzzz* and waits for the doorman to let him by.
The doorman allows Doug in because he, at least, looks very much like he belongs here. He doesn't recognize him as a resident though, perhaps visiting relatives, so once inside, Doug would be asked if he needed help, what apartment he was looking for.
"Oh. Guthrie, please." Doug says, as polite and prim as you please. "If he's in."
The doorman gives a little frown at the name 'Guthrie' like it puts a bad taste in his mouth, but nods, "Apartment 6C, sir." He says, trying to hold back his disdain. "You'll want the right-most elevator." The rest is self explanatory.
Doug gives the doorman a side-eye, but he goes right on walking. The elevator goes *ding* and Doug steps out of it on the 6th floor, before he walks up to the door and knocks, politely. Nok-nok-nok. Nok-nok.
The presents that Jebediah receives are actually quite helpful for New York is a bit colder than the South. Now he doesn't need to keep setting dumpsters on fire everytime that he goes outside to keep warm, surely his brothers are thrilled with this new development as well. He is confused a little by the letter, because he doesn't remember ever getting hit by anyone that night, it was a little disappointing.
When there is a polite knock at the door, Jeb, very loudly, annouces that he'll get it before he rushes over to it to answer it. It takes a minute for recognition to settle in, because he was quite drunk that night but when it does. "Hey! You clean up real nice, y'know. Doug right?" Jeb clearly doesn't harbor any ill will towards the cypher but he may not remember the confession Doug made to him either.
"Oh, uh. Hey bean." Doug rubs the back of his neck. "I wanted to talk to your brother about something. Is he in?" His eyebrows go up, and he says, "Also, thank you!" He beams, quite pleased, from the way his stocky shoulders straighten just a bit.
The rapid 'THUNK-THUNK-THUNK-THUNK' of a stampede is the sound Jay's used to as Jeb rushes the door like an excited labrador retriever to answer. The winged mutant around the corner in the kitchen when Jeb scoots past to open the door. He hears 'Doug' and perks up, looking around the corner. Not that he can actually get in view of the front door from there. "Dougie?" Curious, he walks around slowly, strolling evenly, he appears behind Jeb. His default faint curve of a smile on his face. "Hey, man! Come on in."
"Y'want Jay?" In true little brother fashion, he turns, taking a deep breath that he intends to use to yell for Jay but the bird appears before he can disturb all of the other residents. A little frown of disappointment on his face, not because Jay appeared, but because Jay stopped him from being a nuisance as he steps back so that Doug can come in. "You do, man, y'look fantastic."
"Well, when I go to work for people they expect a degree of professionality. One of the really good things about my job though is that if I'm translating texts I can do it in my kitchen in my underwear while I drink beer." Doug pauses. "Ah, I'm a freelance translator. Hey, Jay!" Doug waves. "Did you get my packages? Also, I had something I wanted to talk to you about.
Curious over the appearance at first, Jay cants his head and gives himself enough time to catch up and get over the oddity of someone showing up at the door for him. Well, other than drunk and cursing siblings. Attention drawn to Doug's appearance, Jay gives Cypher a once over, and nods. "He's not wrong. That coat's real strappin' on you. Come on in, Doug. Ah meant to give you a ring but Ah got a little distracted with that, ah, UN junk." His wings flutter behind him in a whisper. Understatement. "Yeah, we did." Jay's smile expands, exchanging looks at Jeb, then back to Doug, waving his hand at the man to come inside. "Get in here an' take a load off."
"Is that yer mutation then? Can you speak all the languages?" Jeb asks excitedly. Jebediah, you can't just ask someone about their mutation. It's rude. "Ah gotta get a job. You think there's anywhere that ah can use 'lightening eyes' on mah resume and it'll get me hired insteada have the boss running away screamin'?" Then Jeb snaps his fingers as if he's just gotten a great idea, which is always dangerous when it comes to Jebediah. "Ah could put it on anyways, give 'em an incentive to hire me. Why? Ah got lightening eyes, you don't wanna find out what that means if you don't hire me." Jebediah, you're terrible.
"I'm sure Wilson Fisk might have a spot for you on his payroll," Doug says, before he ruffles Jeb's hair. Aw, he's adorable in the same way a Dachshund that might bite your hand is. "Actually yes, that's part of my mutation." Doug says, "I could even understand your brother's accent perfectly back when it was super thick, and that took some doing." Doug steps inside, and takes off his coat, and scarf, and his blazer, and his bow-tie, and then he says, "Oh right, with the blue aliens. They're hiding something. I can tell." Doug puts his finger over his mouth. "So anyway. After a uh, incident where somebody threw a bunch of fireballs and started a fire, Three Eyed Jack is getting out of the bar business. I have some money put by — I was thinking of buying it and fixing it up into a nightclub."
"But a nightclub needs a house musician."
At least with Jeb around, Jay doesn't need to keep the conversation running. He steps forward while Jeb talks about trying to threaten his way into getting a job somewhere, his smile playing light on his expression while he reaches out to start taking Doug's clothing while he strips his outer layers off. "If anyone would know if they were hidin' somethin, it'd be you. The whole thing smells fishy to me. A week to start a massive witch hunt? Why they don't root out their own enemy themselves, Ah don't know. There's just a lotta holes in their logic that Ah can't follow." He shakes his head, smiling as he takes Doug's bow-tie as well, looking at the article of clothing, eyes shining with mirth.
The conversation turns to the Three Eyed Jack, Jay gives Jeb a sidelong look while he hangs up Doug's jackets. Nodding pleasantly along the way until the lead up. Jay freezes. Turning his head slowly to Doug, red brows arching upward to hide under the hang of his hair. "…what?"
Doug opens the top two buttons of his shirt, and rolls up his sleeves, before he sits on the arm of an armchair, and looks up at Jay. "I said I'm thinking of putting in an offer to buy it. But the club's in Mutant Town — hard to book acts that aren't Mutants. And Jay, I'm gonna level with you? Alison Blaire is WAY out of my price range right now. So, IF I buy the place, and I still have to get the money to fix it up, I can't think of a better musician to hire on than you. I mean, you sing like a bird. You can play any instrument you get your hands on. I can't make you any promises and you don't have to commit to anything right now. I wanted to broach the subject, is all." Then Doug quirks his mouth and says "I figured it'd be good practice for asking Sam if he wants to tend bar… if I get the place off the ground. Plus, you've been so down. Not that I'm not one to talk."
"It'll be like a family business that way. Sorta. That would be good for you, Jos… Jay. You were always real talented. You'd bring in a ton of business." Jeb quickly corrects himself from saying the wrong name. His eyes light up at the idea that his brothers would have somewhere to work, especially a place for Jay to play. "Ah'll bet Sam would like that too, you shouldn't have to be scared of asking him." That pretty much confirms that Jebediah can't remember anything about what Doug confessed. All he seems to remember is that Doug can really kick ass and may or may not have punched him.
Doug clears his throat, at that. Ah-hem.
"Well, from the way that Ms. Blaire 86ed it outta the Eight Ball durin' the open mic, she ain't exactly 'out' about bein' a mutant. Ah doubt you could convince her to play regular." Jay murmurs smally, his wngs shivering with what I'm sure Doug could decypher as disapproval, if gentle disapproval, though there is none of it in his tone. mild as ever while he hangs up Doug's articles and meanders back into the livingroom.
He's flattered, that much is clear. Dipping his chin modestly as he rejoins the pair, smiling softly to himself. "Ah might be able to help ya find some talent, too. Ah know a few artists who're mutants. Ah mean, Ah teach lessons at the center, but Ah know at least three other mutant musicians who'd probably be real keen on the opportunity. Make it the 'Cafe Wha?' of the M.T." Jay encourages, liking this idea more and more. A flick back and forth between his brother and friend, reading some oddness between there that he is apparently extra naive of. Like Jeb didn't mention a lick of what happened. The mention that he's been down makes him give Doug a discrete, but still alarmed looking glance. A quick 'nix that, buddy' toss of those bright eyes.
"Sam'd be a great bartender. An' we could even figure out somethin' fer you to do, Jeb. Somethin' where you don't gotta threaten people with electric shocks, like a fleece blanket." Jay teases his energetic sibling, and lets that warmth swim back toward Doug. "Ah'd be happy to play at yer place. Something regular wouldn't be bad. Ah mean, Ah got a job, and Ah gig, but if we could work somethin' regular out, that'd be nice."
Doug's eyes are bright at that. He takes the hint, at least for now, but he dips his head in a nod. "That's great. That influences a lot of my decision making." He looks over at Jeb, and rubs his chin, "Yeah, we'll need someone to bus tables and wash dishes. Gotta start somewhere, right?" He reaches out to cuff Jeb in the arm, lightly, and then says, "Oh, Jay — I don't suppose you caved and opened my gift yet? I wanted to know what you thought of the album. I heard those guys perform in London, and they are just the tops. Better than the Beatles."
"Well, ah was gonna say ah'd make a great bouncer because I got this power would encourage people not to be jerks, but ah mean ah /guess/ ah can wash tables and dishes too." Jeb consents with a heavy sigh as if they had truly ruined all of his dreams. It's theatrical though, evidenced by the mischievous spark in Jeb's eyes. "Ah could still get in plenty of fights before ah come to work then if ah'm just a busser, ah don't gotta keep myself pretty then." He teases, mostly at Jay more than anything, allowing Doug to cuff him on the arm. Doug nearly feels like just another brother already.
"Yer not bouncin' anyone, Jeb," Jay remarks fondly. "You want the gentlest, most even-teempered guy as a bouncer so things don't escalate." The red-head pauses a moment, his expression fallingwhich for Jay just means his smile has slipped and fallen into neutrality rather than the pleasant expression he usually wears by default. Unfolding his legs and pushing to his feet, heading off to the kitchen. "Can I get ya something to drink, Doug? Yeah, Ah opened it. Ah saw it was record shaped an' just couldn't help myself, man. Ah've been playin' it almost constantly, but Kaleb came back from that UN thing with a splittin' headache, so Ah had to keep it down. Man, /who do you know/ over there who smuggled that to ya? They must've owed you big." Glancing back toward normalcy on his way to the kitchen. "Ah mean…the Beatles are sweepin' the nation an' all," Jay hedges, not wanting to say anything unkindhe leaves that for Kaleb—but just because somethin' popular doesn't mean that it's better than somethin' else. Ah'm likin' their sound a lot. They sound more…raw? That's not the right word. There's depth there that a lotta the Beatles just don't got."
"The Beatles make pretty noise." Doug says. "The Zombies sing *about* things. There's singing the name of a girl over and over, and then there's singing about what you're going to—" He quirks his mouth and looks at Jeb. "Nevermind." Then he says, "Oh. Uh, if you have any seltzer I'll have some. Or just a cup of coffee, or some water." Then he says, "Well the record's going to be released in January, so it's not that far in advance, but I knew a guy who knew a guy…"
Jeb doesn't even argue on whether or not he's even tempered, he knows that he isn't. He's quick to anger, that's for sure. Plus, well, if anyone tried to get in by the name of 'Josh' he'd have to fry them and that would just make for bad business. Josh was a common name after all. The conversation turns to Jay and the record and Jeb, despite his excitable nature, tries not to butt in. Jay should get to talk about music. It's one of his favorite topics anyway.
Jay pauses on the threshold of the kitchen, one hand braced on the wall as he turns to look at Doug. His expression soft across those youthful features as his gaze lands on Doug. The weight of aliens, bars, drunks, heartache, awkward relationships all fall away from his shoulders, reaching through the general haze of apathy to pluck a guileless moment out of thin air. "That's exactly what it is. Pretty noise. Doug. That's /perfect/." Distracted, Jay's attention falls away and eyes slide upward to nowhere in particular, thoughtful as he turns back into the kitchen.
"Knew a guy who knew a guy who owed ya a life debt," Jay jokes eventually from the other room, fetching Doug a glass of water. "Our coffee machine's in the shop. Kaleb's boyfriend tried to weaponize it or somethin' so Ah had to bring it in, and it almost ate the guy who opened it up." Distracted, clearly, he doesn't notice the slip.
Doug steeples his fingers together, and decides very quickly not to highlight that Jay said that. "So," He says to Jeb, "What kind of music do you like, Jeb? New York's got a great music scene. Everything comes through here." He gives a faint grin. "I can probably get you into some places. As long as you behave. I've got a knack for finding the right words."
|ROLL| Hajime +rolls 1d20 for: 12
Kaleb's 'boyfriend', Jay says. Is that who that other guy was the other day, the scary lookin' one. A 'boyfriend'. Like Cabbage was dating someone, who was another man. Jeb cuts a glance at Jay but that's all his reaction comes down to, a look, a shaken look. No homophobic ranting spews from his lips, not in front of company but Jeb looks like he's still trying to decipher just what the hell he's supposed to do with that information. Kaleb hadn't even looked like a fairy… maybe.. maybe they don't look like anything? Maybe they were just regular guys? He's a good guy too, takes care of Jay, gave him a home, makes sure he has a roof over his head. Maybe, and this is crazy, maybe fairies were just people. Insane.
Jeb startles from his introspection about fairies when Doug says his name. "What kinda music do ah like? Ah like Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline and ah like everything that my brother plays, anything Jay sings." He admits nonchallantly. "Ah can try to behave, but ah make no promises."
Without it pointed out to him, Jay rummages around in the kitchen, bringing out not just a glass of water for Doug, but a tray with two other glasses of cider as well as a sleeve of crackers and some quickly chopped up cheese. Completely ignorant of what might be rattling around in Jeb's head like the marble in a spray paint can, Jay still seems marginally distracted as he sets the tray down on the table in front of their couch. "Everythin' comes through here, but the music scene is still flyin' higher in Los Angeles." Jay points out. "New York has a lotta folks comin' through, but if ya wanna be taken seriously, most people gotta go to California. You know that Simon & Garfunkle got laughed out of Cafe Wha? earlier this year when they brought 'Sound of Silence' over there?" Picking up one of the ciders, he hands it out toward Jeb, a most serious look levied over to Doug. "You heard of them? They're seriously under-rated. The record released in October but it didn't do so hot, Ah still think it has a lot more" He pauses and allows his mouth to curve upwards again, briefly. "singin' about things than a lot of other musicians. Ah hope they keep at it."
"Language is half about speaking and half about listening, and music is just another kind of language. Sometimes it takes persistence to find someone who's really going to listen to you." Doug picks up a piece of cheese, and eats it, thoughtfully, before he helps himself to a glass of water. "But that doesn't mean you should ever give up trying, right?" He looks down. "The world's an ugly place for people who're different… and there's a couple ways to deal with it. One is, you put your head down, and you live quietly, don't make waves. The other is, you become the kind of person with so many friends, so many resources, nobody dares to mess with you." Doug's blue eyes are far away for a moment—as if considering his choice.
Jeb doesn't reach for the cider when Jay hands it towards him, still lost in his own mind about how he's supposed to react to the fact that Lettuce was gay. Did that mean the others in the house were too? Didn't two of 'em share a room? Jeb's throat is incredibly dry as he thinks about it. What the hell kind of place was New York? He doesn't acknowledge the cup being brandished at him for awhile, he doesn't even make a sound as the conversation continues with music. Doug and Jay effortlessly carry it, while Jeb is working his little brain into a fire. If Kaleb was gay and he floated did that also mean that Jay was made of wood? Which one of them was a duck? He's onto something here, there's an equation for this.
Jay whistles at Jeb when he stares in bound up silence like a broken cymbal monkey rather than take the glass. "Hey, Beansprout. Take the glass. Ah ain't holdin' it out for you to admire," he teases the younger brother but seems to consider Doug more than he does his dazed sibling.
"Sure, it takes persistence, but does that mean that we remain in a country that ain't speakin' our language, when another one does? Sounds like yer just makin' it harder on yerself in that case." Jay points out with a tilt of his head while he sort of clumsily uses Doug's metaphor. "Ah also think there's a middle ground somewhere in there, Dougie. Ah mean, if even Ms. Blaire is ashamed to admit she's a mutant, with all her connections and resources, an' Kaleb and Kellan and /Warren/ can't admit they're mutants with all of theirs, Ah don't know if any of that really holds water."
Doug's eyes flick up to Jeb, and he reaches up in front of Jeb's face and snaps his fingers, once. "Bean." He says. "I know what you're turning over in your head, and you probably should ask. I'm gonna step out onto the balcony and get some air for a minute, okay?" He gets up, and pats his hand on Jay's shoulder. "It's gotta start somewhere, Cardinal." He takes his water with him as he goes out to get some air.
When Jay whistles at him and Doug snaps his fingers, Jeb takes the glass, almost like he was in a daze. He murmurs a gratitude to Jay and then narrows his eyes at Doug. "What you a mind reader? I thought you just spoke a lot of languages? Can you have more than one thing?" He asks, cheeks tinting red a little as he tries to wave it off. "It's really nothing, everythin' is fine. Ah ain't thinking about nothing."
"Microexpressions." Doug says, before he goes out to the balcony. "I'm not a telepath. But… I've been accused of being one more than once."
Jay tilts his head, looking between Doug and Jebediah a couple of times. Something transpired that he clearly missed somewhere along the way. For all his powers of observation, he still missed a lot of things. It's Doug that wins the majority of his attention with a pat to his shoulder. Wings flutter and shiver while he tries to catch up, offering the omnilinguist a small smile and nod. "Sure. You can go on through mah room to get to it. Get some air." Jay gestures over toward his bedroom door and the balcony that bridges between his and Kaleb's rooms.
He waits a moment for Doug to get that far before he turns to his zombie brother. "Yeah, Doug's a hard one to hide anythin' from. He can read expressions an' body language, too. So even somethin' like mah wings, which most folks don't even notice too much, he can 'read' in a general sorta sense." Finally dropping down to the couch, next to Jeb, Jay's wings cock out to either side of him awkwardly, bumping into Jeb. "But you can have more than one thing, yeah. So. What's on yer mind?"
"You just… you said that Kaleb's 'boyfriend' was the one who tried to weaponize yer coffee machine, and I'm not surprised about the weaponized coffee machine. You said Kaleb had a /boyfriend/." Jeb explains, gently, like talking too loud meant Jay was gonna hit for even questioning any of it. "So, uh… Cabbage is gay? Are those other two? The ones who share a bedroom?"
In a spot of REALLY bad timing, the man-eating bomb that cleans their floors whirrs by slowly on the floor, nomming up dust as it goes. Jay's eyes follow the contraption until it's out of sight, the rest of him sort of frozen in place while Jebediah explains what's rolling around in his head and spitting out errors.
"Ah didn't say that, did Ah?" Trying to search backward in his memory, honestly not recalling exactly what he said, precisely. So what does he do in that situation? "So. Ah didn't really tell you when you got here because you were blind and deaf drunk, but we got what Kale calls a 'no judgment rule' in this here apartment. There's enough folks outside who wanna judge us for all kinds of things that are beyond our control, so in here, we just accept that there are some things we ain't always gonna see eye-to-eye on." Bright eyes squint at his younger brother while Jay dances around the questions a little bit. Because Lord knows he can't lie. "Because everyone under this here roof's a good soul. You think you can do that?"
"Well everybody was until ah came around, you can't extend that statement to now." Jebediah teases a little as he works the thought over in his head. The bible says a lot of things that don't make any sense, maybe the whole 'thou shalt not rub a butt if it belongs to another man' thing was one of those things that didn't make any sense. "Okay." He agrees. "Okay, it's alright."
Cracking a smile crookedly at his brother, Jay tips his head to one side, jostling Jeb's shoulder. "/Everyone/ under this roof's a good soul." He repeats stubbornly. "That don't mean they ain't idiots from time to time."
Still, he waits to see if Jebediah can reconcile that thought with what they were taught growing up. "It's not so different, raght? Judge not, lest ye be judged, yeah? It ain't our place to tell folks how to live their lives if they ain't got an interest in it." Leaning back into the couch, a watchful eye casually resting on the fiery little Guthrie squirt. When he agrees, Jay breathes and nods. "Okay. Good. Well, then, in that case…" Uncomfortable suddenly, Jay shifts forward and takes a cracker and some cheese off the tray. "…Kel and Vic are together. You'll meet them eventually. Kellan is Kaleb's brother, and he sorta lives part time in Kaleb's head. Because of that, Kaleb dates women and men, both. At least that's how they explained it to me."
The gayness, Jebediah was willing to reconcile with. People should be allowed to love who they love, the bible even said you were supposed to love everyone, it just didn't give any specifics to how that love was supposed to be given. So Kaleb loves guys and girls. Kellan and Vic love each other. Alright, that's alright. But, "Whoa, what. Kellan lives in Kaleb's head? Now that's weird. What do you mean? And he infected Kaleb with a gay virus?" Jebediah laughs a little at himself, at the situation. "New York is crazy, Jay."
"Wow," Jay starts, squinting at Jeb while he makes some quick mental gymnastics around that. His brows pull together slightly. "Yer handlin' this a whole lot better than Ah did when Ah got here. Huh…" Awed, the musician stares at Jeb for a couple of seconds, silently speculating on this whole business. Smiling faintly when Jebediah laughs. "Yeah, you don't now the half of it, man. But Kellan's a telepath." Tapping his temple with two fingers. "He can talk to folks in their heads. He's gotta try to do it with most folks, but he does it automatically all the time with Kale because they're twins." Or something. "So…they kinda share a brain. Kel's interests sorta rub off on Kale. Though Ah don't think Kel would date Max in a million years. He's got better taste than Kale does."
"If ah don't handle it well, then you'll kick me out, or Lettuce will, and ah won't have anywhere to go and ah wanna support you and stuff, you know. Ah want you to be happy and ah don't really care what you gotta do to be happy but you should be happy. You been through a lot of stuff, ah think you deserve it, to be happy. And if living with a buncha queers makes you happy, then ah'll be nice. Ah mean, they ain't any different than us, really. Cabbage looks like a normal guy, he acts like a normal guy and he ain't tried to touch me or anythin'. They tell you a whole lot of stuff about them bein' child touchers and whatever, make 'em out to be evil but they seem fine to me." Jebediah explains, cheeks flushing as he tries to say his piece. He reaches over and clasps a hand on Jay's shoulder. "Listen, you… you could even be gay too and that would also be alright. I ain't afeared of no gays, ain't nothing to be afraid of and there ain't nothin' bout them that makes em bad either. The only thing ah don't like is you not bein' happy and all the guys in New York named Josh."
Jay winces when Jeb mentions the name thing, ignoring the quick rush of heat that touches his cheeks and burns bright through his ears. "Sure, of all the things you actually remember, it's the name thing. Great. Listen, Jeb, yer bein' really—or, well, mostly level-headed raght now," Jay pops another cracker in his mouth, stuffing it in one cheek as he turns toward Jeb. "You gotta forget what Ah said about that. It wasn't Christian of me to say somethin' that ugly. Don't go around pickin' fights you ain't got no reason bein' in over a name, okay? Ah know yer gonna get your scraps in, but Ah don't want to be the reason for it, Jebediah, okay?"
Blowing out a thin stream of air. "An'…the queer thing. Just. Try not to act weird around the guys. They're homosexual, not Kree sent here to wage war on us or somethin' stupid. An' Ah'm not gay. Ah had lots of girlfriends back home." Grabbing the last glass of cider and burying his face in it for a moment.
"Well, that don't mean nothin'. You just said Brocolli dates girls and boys, so you could too. All that matters is that it don't matter. I'm not gonna be weird, why would I be weird? They're just guys who happen to like other guys, not aliens, you're right. If I treated them different it wouldn't be any different than the way people treated Ray Jr or me, when I was younger and I was just the brother of a mutant. People are already rude to us just for existing. We might as well be nice to each other in here."
"Ah'm gonna remember, still." He tells Jay sternly when Jay tries to tell him to forget what he said about the other guy named Josh. "Ah'll just wait for every Josh in New York to do somethin' dumb and then I'll hit 'im, and it won't be your fault."
"Well, Vic's technically a sentient mote of thought that accidentally possessed a guy's body, but, yeah," Jay kind of bruuuuuushes past that part, speaking into his glass. Clearing his throat, there's a casual smile as he sets the cider back down. "Yer way smarter than folks give you credit for, Jeb. See? Told ya that everyone over here's got a good head on 'em." Elbowing his sibling, he smiles mildly, and looks toward his bedroom and the balcony beyond it where Doug's taking some air. "Ah…eh. Ah'm sorta dating a lady. She's nice." Though Jay doesn't sound like he's too into it. "She's really pretty. You'll meet her eventually. But. You know. Ah'm sorta more into someone else, but that's not goin' to happen. Mah love life's always a mess. Better to just focus on other things, y'know?" He pats Jeb's knee and tries to just bruuuush over the rest about a war on Joshes.
Jeb gives Jay's shoulder a squeeze and he smiles when Jay calls him smart. "Now, don't go sayin' that out loud too often or people are going to think you're the dumb one." Jeb tries not to think too hard on Vic being a sentient mote of /thought/ that possessed a guy, or his brain will short circuit and it was already dangerously close to doing just that. He shifts when Jay elbows him and smiles. "Well, you could introduce her to me and ah'll just take her off your hands and you can chase the other one."
Jay's mouth smiles, but the expression seems hollow, not coming close to reaching into his eyes. "Ah appreciate the thought, but that's not gonna happen, Beansprout." Glancing up in the direction Doug wandered into. "You think he's okay out there? We should check on him." Looking at the firecracker next to him, Jay shoves Jeb's knee with his hand. "You good?"
"Rude of you, Jay. Ah was just tryin' to help you out. Whenever you get tired of a girl, you can always send her my way. Ah ain't got much time to find them myself, Ah've got people to fight." Jeb teases and then looks to Doug on the balcony. "Yea, we should probably go check on him. He's been there awhile. Ah'm fine. Everythin' is fine." And everyone is apparently gay. Also fine, he guesses.
Jay gets to his feet, shaking his head lowly for a moment, casting his hair all around his face for a quietly bemused look. "Ah meant the other one. If you wanna go after mah lady friend, that's fine by me. Any lady'd be lucky to have you." Well, maybe not ANY lady. Ninette might chew him up and spit him out. Jay shoves his hair back into place away from his face. "Thanks, Jeb. Fer bein' understandin'. You really did handle this a lot better than Ah did when Ah got here."
Jeb rises as well. "Well, then whoever that may be, they're stupid, to not be with you. You're the best guy ah know, I wasn't even kidding. Sam is in second place, you're the best. Anyone would be lucky to have you, too." Jeb reassures him. "And, yer welcome. Ah told you Ah was yer best brother." He teases with a little wink. He'll toil about it on the inside, find a church immediately in the morning to ask God about all this, but he can hide all of that for his brother's sake.
"Thanks fer the vote of confidence, Jeb," Jay murmurs hollowly, wearing a small smile that every parent knows. He appreciates the vote of confidence, but that's just not how simple or easy these things are. "You just might be the best one out of all of us, Jeb. C'mon, bring yer cider. Let's dig Dougie out of his head." Don't worry, Jeb. Jay knows where all the best panic churches are. They're out there.