Run away but we’re running in circles

[Julio de la Rosa]

I couldn't find the TV, he signed, almost guiltily when Angel reappeared, as if he had done something wrong just sitting there with the remote uselessly in his hand. Julio didn't know what he would have chosen to watch, anyway. There were no DVDs--although he was aware that DVDs were outdated. Anybody that had ever visited his humble abode made fun of him every single time because of the DVD collection and the DVD player...

But he did want to watch something with Angel. He didn't want to go anywhere, to be sure. As long as Angel didn't mind him sticking around.

Adjusting himself slightly, he started to sign before again thinking better of it. Writing quickly, he showed his phone to Angel with a slightly embarrassed face. "Do you mind if I change too? I'm wet under these jeans. I have things in my bag."

[Angel Miguel Albares]

Oops—he forgot to tell Julio which button to press to get the TV down. Almost before Julio began to sign, Angel realized that and smiled apologetically. He walked forward to take the remote from Julio so that he could show him and took a seat on the end of the bed. It was a little hard not to laugh when Julio turned the phone around—somehow he managed it because he didn't want to hurt his feelings when he was already sitting in wet underwear!

"Go ahead. There's towels in there if you need them." And a gigantic porcelain tub, a glistening glass-doored shower big enough for four people, three sinks and another window with a view that couldn't be looked into from the outside. Angel grinned in lieu of a laugh and pressed the button on the remote to lower the TV. As it did so, he slid up on the bed so that he could rest his back against the headboard.

The first program that popped up was a cartoon—the last channel he had the TV on before he turned it off. Since Julio was going to be occupied for a while changing, Angel watched it instead of flicking through the list of channels to find a good movie. There was also Netflix and Youtube, but he would rather wait for Julio before they decided on what to watch for the night.

This evening was ending on a definite high note for Angel. He glanced at the bathroom door with a very fond gaze. Somehow, without intending to, Julio had already become an important part of his life. It was so nice, so heart-warming, to have a friend with him. And one who saw him in a flattering light, no less. Angel looked over at the painting which was hanging at just the right height. He smiled again; if he could go to sleep every night looking at that painting, maybe he'd be able to get more than a couple of hours a night.

[Julio de la Rosa]

He hurried away to change. There was no way he was going to be comfortable in wet underwear for the duration of his stay. And he probably waddled like a weirdo as he left. He felt like he was walking funny, anyway.

Quickly, he grabbed his bag and took it with him into the bathroom. It was such a damned relief to get those pants off, and even more so the wet underwear beneath. Since Angel said that he could, he used a towel to dry off. And he looked--gawked--at all the finery around him. The bathroom alone could have fit his entire apartment in it.

Then, reminding himself that Angel was waiting, he rummaged through the bag for dry clothes. Thongs weren't the most comfortably things, either but at least they were clean and dry. And he didn't want to put his jeans back on, since they were... wet. Around the underwear area. So he ended up in some of his stripper pants.

It was
kinda funny. He had to laugh silently at himself for it. The things he'd brought along only if he had to strip and entertain ended up saving him. And now he looked like a fool, but... that was okay. He looked into the mirror and he thought about tying his hair back up. His hand was halfway to doing it but for some reason, he stopped.

Was it just him, or did Angel look at him a little softer when his hair came down?

Lowering his hand, he kept the band around his wrist. He balled up the wet clothes and stuffed them into the bag. Might as well. He could clean them on laundry day. Once he was finished, he came out, letting the bag sit next to the door as he heard the sounds of a cartoon playing on the TV.

Much better, he signed, hesitating, then climbed onto the bed to sit with Angel. Still not too close, but with his back against the headboard, too.

He'd caught him, though. Looking at the painting again. Angel really liked it, didn't he? Julio was glad, then, that he'd asked to paint while he was here. He almost didn't, thinking he would create something laughable. The kind of thing a mother puts on the fridge to humor her son. (Julio didn't know if his mother did that to him but he liked to believe she really enjoyed what he created for her.)

For a moment, it was like being out at the pool, just the two of them. Then he wrote, "I'm glad you called me over. After you left last time, I thought I did something wrong."

[Angel Miguel Albares]

Were those police pants? The kind with the stripe down the side that reminded Angel of the police here? He tried to be discreet but he was pretty sure he stared a little when Julio came out of the bathroom with his duffel bag. Then Angel recalled seeing similar pants at the club and he whipped his gaze right back to the TV. Yup those were stripper pants, not police pants.

If Julio thought he came here to dance, having a costume stood completely to reason. But it was still hilarious that he needed to wear it just to hang out in bed to watch a movie. Also it made Angel feel bad; he would have offered to dry off Julio's jeans but Julio would be going home soon anyway. The thought of that wasn't all that pleasant... actually...

"Next time you should bring swimming trunks," he said mildly, recalling with another pang how he just led Julio to the pool and dove in without thinking. At the time it seemed like a fun thing. Swimming in his clothes. A spontaneous thing, no? Angel was actually quite prone to doing things like that, just on the spur of the moment—it made parts of his life problematic, though, like when he was near the edge of the pool.

He flicked through a list of movies while they sat together at that perfect distance. Then he glanced over when the phone was nudged at him and shook his head. It was my fault. Aha, another phrase he anticipated using. I'm sorry.

"I was scared. Not of you, just... of the whole place. The town. After what those guys did, I felt sick being there so I ran out." For a few seconds he kept his eyes on the phone, and then he shifted closer to Julio. It didn't make him feel so bad to be closer. Actually it was... nice. It made him feel warm, like when he looked at that painting.

[Julio de la Rosa]

Swimming trunks? Julio looked over at Angel with amusement. Even if he had, there was no time for trunks when he was merely following Angel's spur of the moment demands. No, demand wasn't the right term for it. Games? No. It was just... something that happened. He didn't regret that it happened, though. Everything was fine; he was warm and dry, thanks to stripper clothes.

Angel apologized. Which was sweet of him but Julio shook his head. It's okay. Everything worked out fine in the end. He had gone about it strangely but Julio was learning that it was just Angel's quirks. And... that he was scared. Julio almost signed me? He was scared of him? But no, it was the events of the night. Ah. Julio looked down, too. They met under such horrible circumstances but... at least they met. And at least Angel was here, at home, healing.

He couldn't really blame Angel for wanting to leave Hazleton after what happened to him there. Maybe... maybe he would never go back. But what about Logan? What about... the club? Did this spell the end of it? Maybe so, but he was probably safer here, really.

Slowly, as Angel sat closer, Julio gently put an arm around him. A companionable arm. A safe arm. A half hug sort of arm, nothing more, nothing less.

[Angel Miguel Albares]

None of this was normal or routine to Angel, whose evenings at home tended to consist of dinner in front of the TV in the kitchen, an occasional dip in the pool, some painting and eventually curling up in this very bed either watching cartoons to help him fall asleep or gazing out through the window at the city beyond. He didn't have to worry about being spied on up here in the penthouse, so the blinds were almost never drawn at night. The lights from outside helped stave off that inevitable panic he felt in the dark.

Angel watched their reflections in the windows facing the bed. He looked at Julio, whose arm was moving towards him, and he looked at himself sitting somewhat stiffly beside him. It wasn't a mirror image though; parts of them were blurry but the shapes of their bodies were maintained. It was still them, just not in all of their respective details.

Slowly, Angel leaned in. The reflection in the window leaned in too. He pressed play on a random movie, not even looking at the TV anymore, and then set the remote aside. Julio came out here for him despite having given up private shows. Despite the trauma he suffered in the past, he was willing to risk it. For him.

So Angel felt emboldened to do the same—to feel a little uncomfortable, to take a risk. It was no great sacrifice to let someone hold him or to lean up against them. To cuddle with them. And once he got over that initial hurdle, their images in the window merged and became one. They fit together.

"I'm glad you came tonight." Now he was safely in Julio's arms and he didn't have to think about that terrible night. He didn't think about being beaten up, about the pain and the shock. It was like all the bad events faded into the background and all the nice ones emerged into the foreground. Angel rested his head against Julio's shoulder and smiled at the animated film beginning to play on the screen.

[Julio de la Rosa]

Julio smiled. He was glad he came, too. Despite the rocky start, they managed to get somewhere comfortable. For both of them? He hoped. He thought. Angel seemed comfortable with him and Julio most certainly was comfortable with him. His gaze was on the movie but his mind was elsewhere. It floated around, serenely from the painting to the pool to cooking together to the jolt of surprise when Angel first signed to him.

There was a lot on his mind but nothing that required a lot of attention. Just passing thoughts, passing feelings. But without keeping his eye on the time, it passed by in a comfortable, quiet blur. His eyes grew heavy. The night before had been a long one--a bachelorette party, which tended to run long and push them to their limits.

Maybe it was just being warm inside the bedroom, with Angel's head on his shoulder. Maybe it was the loose thoughts running through his mind and then shutting down. Whatever it was, he eventually nodded off and fell asleep sitting up.

[Angel Miguel Albares]

The movie was nothing special, just some Justice League thing, but Angel liked it. He liked cartoons and animated films over ones with actual people—some called him weird because of it, because he liked 'kid stuff.' But his fondest memories of his parents was curling up with them on the big couch back home to watch a movie. It happened only once on his birthday but he remembered it.

So watching this with Julio felt like being home. Curling up with an arm around him, keeping him safe, it meant so much more than Angel could express. While he was wrapped up in the movie, he felt the arm around him go slack and when he looked over...

Angel smiled. Silently he reached over to brush a few strands of hair from Julio's sleeping face, liking the way he looked in repose. So peaceful. So soft. Angel was glad he opted not to tie up his hair. It looked good whichever way he styled it, but down and framing his face was the look he liked the most.

"...thank you." Julio didn't have to be awake to hear it. He eased in closer and gently laid an arm over Julio's stomach and continued to watch the movie to its conclusion, feeling weirdly awake. Didn't Julio have to go back to the club? Or... home? If he didn't have to check back at the club, Angel had no problem letting him sleep here. It was so nice having another person here—it was nice to be with someone he trusted. Funny that it didn't even take that long to gain his trust, but here they were.