First class pain in the ass

[Sean Yun]

"All right, let's go home."

It was a shame that they couldn't find Angel but what else could they do at this point? Sean still took the long way home though, in case they just missed the guy, but still nothing. There were barely any people out in the streets at this hour and the ones who were out were drunk or homeless—nothing like that blue-haired guy he saw earlier.

Once the car pulled up to the curb at Greenwood, Sean cut the engine. "C'mon bud. Let's just get inside, crack open a few beers and try to relax. I'm sure tomorrow he'll call you, let you know he's okay. He probably found a cab on his own and went home."

[Julio de la Rosa]

Yeah, yeah... Get inside. Forget everything that happened tonight. He could use a mind wipe. The entire night felt like a sickening rollercoaster ride; the kind that ended in dropping to his knees afterward, and not the kind where he grinned ecstatically with adrenaline pumping through his body.

He nodded glumly and opened the car door, stepping out slowly. Julio still couldn't quite understand where things went wrong and what he could have done differently. But he felt... quite acutely, that it was him that broke things, somehow. He wished... he wished he had just held Angel. None of the rest of it. Just... held him.

Instead, he let himself get upset. He knew rationally part of it was the agitation from the party. But it was also the insult of not knowing Angel and the feeling deep down that maybe he was right. Slipping his keys out of his pocket, he unlocked the door and pushed it open to let Sean in first.

Drinks it was.

[Sean Yun]

"Thanks bud." Sean patted him consolingly on the back as he entered the apartment and picked up the beer he left hastily at the door, in their rush to find Julio's Angel. It was just too bad that they didn't get to him in time and he felt bad for his friend. But... maybe it was for the best this way. Maybe Julio needed some time to think, and come to realize that he didn't need this kind of drama in his life.

He plopped down onto the couch and cracked open a beer straight away. One for him, one for Julio. Sipping it, Sean studied him for a long moment, with a lot to say but knowing that he shouldn't speak his mind on any of it.

"You wanna hear a funny story?" he said instead, patting the space beside him. "Some dude was gonna pay me 2k to have sex with him." Sean threw back his head and laughed. "I didn't know I was worth that much!"

[Julio de la Rosa]

Julio took a beer too, although he looked down at it without yet drinking from it. Obviously, he knew he could trust a beer given to him by a friend. It had nothing to do with that. He just... His mind was still stuck on Angel's face. The warmth of his body when he hugged him. Flaring his nostrils, he lifted the can to his lips.

After gulping down probably half the can in one go, he finally lowered it to the coffee table. He looked over at Sean with some surprise, looking him over. Then he signed, "2k? You have to be joking."

Sure, Sean was a good looking guy but nobody paid that kind of money to sleep with somebody, not even the high end hookers! For a single person? Shit...

[Sean Yun]

"Not sure if agree with you... or mildly insulted you wouldn't pay 2k for this bod..." Sean grinned--obviously not insulted in the least. He wasn't a troll but 2k for one night? Not even the classiest hookers got that much for one evening!

It was a young guy, too. He probably didn't have trouble getting someone to sleep with him because he was quite good looking so... Maybe it was a power trip kind of thing. Knowing he could buy someone with that kind of cash. That or he was into some freaky shit... Most likely the freaky shit.

"I thought about it though. For like five seconds. Then I got the hell outta there." He laughed again and finished off his can. Talking about something else to take Julio's mind off of Angel, that was his not-so-clever plan. Was it working yet? Hmm... maybe not. Julio gulped down his beer like he wished it was something stronger.

"Hey that's new isn't it?" Sean pointed to a painting on the wall of a lady dancing through the air, blue dress floating behind her, not knowing that Angel was the one who painted it. "Where'd you get it?"

[Julio de la Rosa]

Julio half smiled as he regarded Sean. It was a lot of money for a single evening with a stripper. Or more, because the person wanted to sleep with Sean. But Julio didn't like thinking about what it meant when they went beyond stripping because he had done it. And he was one of those, too. Just a stripper... now. But before... He sold his body to the highest bidder. And because he sold his body, for some reason, that made him nothing but goods to certain types of people.

Sean didn't want to go down that road. Julio wished he could convey that but Sean was his own person. He made a choice, anyway, and it was the right one, Julio thought. Such strength, to turn down such an exorbitant price tag! He finally grinned.

"Can't blame you for thinking about it," he signed. But the mood immediately shifted when Sean pointed out Angel's painting. The lump was back in his throat, the knot back in his stomach. He toyed with the tab on his can of beer.

"Angel painted it."

[Sean Yun]

Ah fuck! He had to go and point out the one thing that brought the conversation back to Angel! Sean kicked himself inwardly—even though he couldn't have known who painted the damn thing. But he also studied the portrait with a bit of a critical eye, noting the graceful brush strokes and the way that blue featured prominently in the piece.

Look, just because he was a muscled up male stripper didn't mean that he couldn't enjoy things like art. He didn't go to galleries and pretend he was 'cultured' or anything but even Sean knew a good painting when he saw one. Of course—he also didn't advertise that he enjoyed nice art. Not really his... image.

"An artist, huh?" He smiled as he cracked open another beer, having finished the first. "Somehow always thought you'd end up with like... a nurse or something." No idea why. Maybe he just liked the idea of somebody finally being able to take care of Julio for once, since Julio was so independent. Everybody needed that one person they could lean on, even Sean. But in their line of work, finding someone who was okay with them baring their bodies nightly was difficult.

"Sorry, didn't mean to bring him up. I know it's rough, buddy." Reaching over, he gently patted Julio's forearm. "But it's kinda like they say right. If you guys were meant to be, he'll come back eventually. Sometimes you just gotta let fate do its thing, you know? And... if you ever need somebody to talk to." He grinned again. "I mean—wave your hands around to. You always got me and Logan. We're clowns but we know when to settle down when you need us to."

[Julio de la Rosa]

Julio also looked at the painting, but just looking at it made his heart ache and his chest clench up. It wasn't so long ago that the artist himself was here with him but Julio already missed him. He lowered his gaze, hoping--wishing--that not looking at the painting might help the tumult he felt inside. It didn't.

And Sean, bless his heart, was trying. But it wasn't working. It wasn't enough. Sean was a friend. And he was a good person and he was being a good friend to Julio now in his moment of need. But even his well meant words of advice just twisted the knife in his heart.

"Not much to say," he signed. Because what was there left to say?

[Sean Yun]

"I know, I know. It's okay. I didn't mean right now but whenever you feel like it. If you feel like it."

Things were too raw right now, Sean got that. He was the same way after a break-up, even a good one. Even an amicable one. He didn't want to talk about it in the moment when the emotions were still high but eventually he opened up, if only to Logan and sometimes Julio. It sucked to have a falling out, or to be rejected, or just to drift. He didn't know what happened between Julio and Angel but something drove a wedge between them and it had to hurt. Julio didn't act like this over just anybody.

Reaching over, he patted Julio gently on the shoulder a couple of times and then handed him another beer. "Here drink up! Let's just kick back and watch some dumb shows and try to unwind. Been a long day, huh?" He grabbed the remote and switched on the TV to something mindless, while turning the topic of conversation away to something dumb that happened to him earlier in the week.