AU | R | Rules of the Train
OKAY. I went through and fixed a few things and I'm releasing this into the public, so I apologize for the double post of it.
Title: Rules of the Train
Words: ~2,200
Rating: R - a few bad words
Summary: Wherein Jared doesn’t know the rules and Jensen’s cranky.
Notes: I get anal about riding the train to and from work and dealing with people. This came from that.
Jared kind of likes waking up in the morning. He likes the sunshine and the way the birds chirp outside the window of his one-bedroom apartment, and how it’s bright and signals the beginning of a new day. He even likes his near-two-mile bike ride to the train station and being packed into cars with other commuters so he can travel from the suburbs into the City. It makes him feel professional and accomplished to be among the business class. Even if he barely manages more than a comb through his hair and wears polos and jeans to his computer programming job while he’s surrounded by pinstripe suits, starched shirts, women in high heels, and polished hair.
But what he hates is the one guy he always spots on his morning ride. The one who always shoots him little glares and seems to sigh whenever he tries to find a spot to sit. It’s not Jared’s fault he gets on just before the train leaves the station and struggles to find some place to plant himself. So he doesn’t get why the guy always shakes his head and grumbles when Jared takes advantage of a two-seat cushion to stretch out. At 6’4”, with the longest legs possible, it’s not easy to settle into public transportation, so he takes advantage of the space. The car is never that full this early in the morning anyway.
*
Jared’s iPod is entertaining him on the ride, and he’s feeling amped and good, this close to finishing the prototype of the new program his department’s developing, and the weather has been excessively sunny. So the music is loud and it’s hyping him up for another good day while his foot taps excitedly.
The guy, the one who always gives him angry looks, is in front of him and does one of those over-the-shoulder-I’m-acknowledging-you things, shakes his head, and faces forward again. Then he sits up straight and Jared can see how his shoulders rise and pop back in annoyance. Jared snorts, and the guy looks over his shoulder again, irritating Jared more. But the profile makes his stomach spin and his eyes lock onto the tan skin and the clean swipe of his jaw. This guy? This pissy guy? He’s really fucking hot. And Jared never seemed to really notice or care before because they've had this love/hate relationship. The kind where they seem to love hating each other.
Jared smirks a little, because the guy really does have like the most gorgeous face Jared's ever seen, in person or on TV. But this is the same guy who always grumbles whenever they see each other. So Jared's kind of torn here.
*
Jared’s taking a late train home after putting in overtime to fix the kinks in the next version of the program and make alterations per client remarks. It’s not terribly late, but he’s about five trains and ninety minutes past his normal ride. Yet, there’s still some sun in the sky, so he doesn’t care all too much.
He settles into a bench seat, leaning against the window, his legs stretched towards the aisle. And he’s on his cell with his neighbor, Chad, talking about ordering pizza so it’s there by the time he gets to home.
“Dude, just order. What’s the big deal?” Jared crabs when Chad refuses to do the favor.
He listens to Chad, whining right back that it's not his responsibility to feed Jared.
But Jared just bitches back, “Look, the game starts at seven. I’ll be there like seven-thirty, seven-forty-five tops. You have pizza, I’ll grab beer from my fridge and it’s game on!”
There’s more arguing from Chad’s end, just because he’s lazy and gets to work from home, so he puts as little effort into his life as possible. Jared’s not jealous in the slightest (okay, he kind of is).
The train car suddenly fills with a rush of last minute passengers then it jolts to life. Jared eyes the people around him and spots Hot, Pissy Guy. He smirks. Then considers coming up with a better nickname. But he’s kind of clueless when he just watches the guy settle into the seat across the aisle with a sourpuss look on his possibly beautiful face. Jared smirks a little in his direction and the guy looks confused then sits back and flips through his Blackberry.
Jared keeps arguing with Chad, shooting glances every so often at Hot, Pissy Guy, and tries to ignore how much the guy’s glaring back. Instead, Jared appreciates that Hot, Pissy Guy’s even acknowledging him. Because the green eyes are piercing and the cut of his jaw is sharp and begging to be touched. And the lips … Jared can’t even function when he considers putting his lips across them.
But then he zones back into his cell, and bitches more. “You are the biggest pussy I’ve ever met. You do nothing all day long and then you’re going to complain about making one phone call to get us food. Man up, Murray.”
A couple people in the area turn to Jared because A) he said pussy, and B) he’s pretty much using his outdoor voice. But he doesn’t see anything other than Hot, Pissy Guy. Jared smiles gently, but can’t manage much more than that because in addition to being physically clumsy on legs that take up like ninety percent of his body, he’s also awkward at the whole dating, flirting, seduction thing.
When Hot Pissy Guy rises for their stop, he shoots another glare in Jared’s direction and shakes his head. Jared watches him pass and exit, then frowns. He jumps up, lining up in the aisle just behind him, waiting for the train to make its complete stop. When it jerks while braking, Jared squeaks a little, drawing attention from Hot, Pissy Guy, who does the over-the-shoulder-crabby look thing and shakes his head.
They move forward and the guy pats a palm at the sign in the vestibule, the one with a cartoonish figure on a phone and lots of squiggly lines coming from its mouth. Jared stops to read it. Mind your manners and your cell phones.
Jared groans, drawing another shake of the head from Hot, Pissy Guy.
*
Jared sees Hot, Pissy Guy work his way up the aisle, coming from the previous car. They share a glance and Jared sits up a little, smiling just so slightly and feeling something burn in his stomach. He looks good in what he assumes is business casual of a pressed shirt tucked into sharp slacks - instead of the typical suit and tie.
The guy’s grumpy with his eyebrows down low and pursed lips. And Jared can see where he’s trying to avoid eye contact, but he keeps giving it then rolling his eyes.
Jared frowns, not liking it. But he shoots looks up top to see where the guy is sitting in the upper deck. And he keeps watching, even once the train stops at their station and they’re making their way off. Jared’s in the vestibule, trying to decide between rushing past the guy - not matter how hot he is or how much Jared wants him, the guy is constantly giving him dickish looks - or being nice and letting him by. They do a little step dance of the whole ‘are you going?’ ... ‘should I go?’ … until finally Hot, Pissy Guy sighs roughly and manages to push himself right past Jared, apparently not caring how they bump into each other and Jared accidentally kicks the back of the guys shiny shoes.
“Sorry!” Jared says immediately, fully of guilt. But Hot, Pissy Guy just rolls his eyes and marches quickly on his way down the platform.
“Fuck,” Jared mumbles to himself, and queues up his iPod, trying to ignore how he’s daydreaming about what a smile on that face would really look like.
*
Jared sees Hot, Pissy Guy coming down the aisle again. He looks grumpy, as usual, but not as pissy. Maybe just tired? Maybe drained and lost in the day? Jared’s not sure what it is, but it’s different.
He watches him with a sad smile and they meet eyes again, and the guy still looks like he’s the crabbiest thing in the world. But Jared sees something else in his eyes when they flicker back for another moment and he wants to say something.
Hot, Pissy Guy’s eyes flutter down to his seat, where there is barely any room for someone else to sit, then he looks to Jared and rolls his eyes. He moves on to the next car.
Jared throws a hand through his hair. It’s a lost cause to even pine over this guy, the one who is doing nothing more than shaking his head and rolling eyes.
*
Jared’s sour, the cloudy sky and just-beginning rain ruffling his mood. He slumps further against the window than he normally does, staring out the window and seeing how the rain’s trickling down the glass. His arms are crossed and his long legs are stretched within the footspace of the seat and he sighs. There were plans after work for a pick-up game of football, but this weather’s not cooperating.
He can’t even manage to be excited when he sees Hot, Pissy Guy walking down the aisle and watching him, looking as bored and disinterested as ever. Jared shakes his head and stares back out onto the water that’s suddenly pouring on the other side of the train. The guy slows and then kicks at Jared’s foot, making him look up with an annoyed look. He’s just standing there, staring down on the seat. But then he nudges a little nicer and mumbles, “You mind slidin’ over?”
There is no way he’s in the mood for this, but the train does look a little more packed than usual, for whatever reason. So he does as he’s asked and bunches his legs up in the space, feeling cramped in seconds.
But then his stomach flares and his brain stutters. Because? Well, as he texts to Sandy: OMG HOT PISSY GUY IS SITTING NEXT TO ME!
A minute later, it beeps and he reads her reply TALK TO HIM! And stop yelling at me :(
He frowns with his next text. not yellin but SANDS! its hot pissy guy
The throat clears next to him and Jared flinches a quick glance. “It’s Jensen.”
“Huh?” Jared squeaks, a little freaked out . This isn’t happening.
But Jensen points a finger at the hand holding the cell. “I’m not always pissy. But I guess hot is a good adjective.”
“Holy shit,” he mumbles before he can realize anything.
They fall silent and it’s nerve-wracking. Jared ignores Sandy's reply, trying to manage himself. But he can't get anything to come from his mouth but loud breathing, and he decides to just curl into the window and die.
“You know,” Jensen says absently. “There’s, like, basic etiquette to riding the train.”
Jared looks over, completely lost and speechless. He hates being this useless.
“Like not talking loudly on cell phones.”
He makes a tiny Huh sound that squeaks.
“Letting every other person off from the top. And not hogging seats to yourself.”
His eyebrows furrow and he faces forward, but keeps looking from the corner of his eye. Because Hot, Pissy Guy? Well, Jensen? He has a hot, pissy voice. “I’m not exactly a short guy,” Jared mumbles back. “In case you hadn’t noticed.”
A few moments tick by before Jensen replies, “Oh, I noticed.”
Jared turns his head just slightly, enough to see the guy, but not enough to make it like he’s staring. He spots a quirk of the mouth. Jared finally manages his voice enough to pathetically ask, “What are the rules about talking to strangers on trains?”
“I don’t know,” he says lamely, scratching just behind his ear while making an odd face.
There’s a surge in seeing Jensen uncomfortable. Jared sits up and smirks a little, he knows he can do this. He has to do it. This is likely his one and only shot. “Well, we’re not exactly strangers.”
“Hmm?”
“We’ve been flirting for, like, months now.”
Jensen levels a glare, “You’re really shitty at flirting then.”
“It’s been said,” Jared mumbles back.
“So.”
“Yeah.”
Jared glances out the window, watching the rain catch as the train speeds down the track. By the scenery, he knows they’re close to the end of the line and close to ending this moment. “Um, can I maybe have a chance to flirt badly when we're not stuck on the train?”
Long, silent seconds crawl by and Jared sighs, frowning and feeling like the biggest asshat in the world. The train slows into the station and eventually stops. He decides to wait a good, long while before he’ll get up, making sure Jensen is nowhere near him, or anyone else in the area who may have heard their conversation.
The car’s pretty empty, so he finally heaves himself out of self-pity long enough to sit up and turn. But then he stops, because resting where Jensen had been sitting is a crisp white square. Jensen’s business card. Jared smirks and flips the thing within his fingers. Then he barks out a laugh at the back, with Jensen’s chicken scratch.
Let’s work on your train etiquette. Then we’ll work on your flirting.
Title: Rules of the Train
Words: ~2,200
Rating: R - a few bad words
Summary: Wherein Jared doesn’t know the rules and Jensen’s cranky.
Notes: I get anal about riding the train to and from work and dealing with people. This came from that.
Jared kind of likes waking up in the morning. He likes the sunshine and the way the birds chirp outside the window of his one-bedroom apartment, and how it’s bright and signals the beginning of a new day. He even likes his near-two-mile bike ride to the train station and being packed into cars with other commuters so he can travel from the suburbs into the City. It makes him feel professional and accomplished to be among the business class. Even if he barely manages more than a comb through his hair and wears polos and jeans to his computer programming job while he’s surrounded by pinstripe suits, starched shirts, women in high heels, and polished hair.
But what he hates is the one guy he always spots on his morning ride. The one who always shoots him little glares and seems to sigh whenever he tries to find a spot to sit. It’s not Jared’s fault he gets on just before the train leaves the station and struggles to find some place to plant himself. So he doesn’t get why the guy always shakes his head and grumbles when Jared takes advantage of a two-seat cushion to stretch out. At 6’4”, with the longest legs possible, it’s not easy to settle into public transportation, so he takes advantage of the space. The car is never that full this early in the morning anyway.
*
Jared’s iPod is entertaining him on the ride, and he’s feeling amped and good, this close to finishing the prototype of the new program his department’s developing, and the weather has been excessively sunny. So the music is loud and it’s hyping him up for another good day while his foot taps excitedly.
The guy, the one who always gives him angry looks, is in front of him and does one of those over-the-shoulder-I’m-acknowledging-you things, shakes his head, and faces forward again. Then he sits up straight and Jared can see how his shoulders rise and pop back in annoyance. Jared snorts, and the guy looks over his shoulder again, irritating Jared more. But the profile makes his stomach spin and his eyes lock onto the tan skin and the clean swipe of his jaw. This guy? This pissy guy? He’s really fucking hot. And Jared never seemed to really notice or care before because they've had this love/hate relationship. The kind where they seem to love hating each other.
Jared smirks a little, because the guy really does have like the most gorgeous face Jared's ever seen, in person or on TV. But this is the same guy who always grumbles whenever they see each other. So Jared's kind of torn here.
*
Jared’s taking a late train home after putting in overtime to fix the kinks in the next version of the program and make alterations per client remarks. It’s not terribly late, but he’s about five trains and ninety minutes past his normal ride. Yet, there’s still some sun in the sky, so he doesn’t care all too much.
He settles into a bench seat, leaning against the window, his legs stretched towards the aisle. And he’s on his cell with his neighbor, Chad, talking about ordering pizza so it’s there by the time he gets to home.
“Dude, just order. What’s the big deal?” Jared crabs when Chad refuses to do the favor.
He listens to Chad, whining right back that it's not his responsibility to feed Jared.
But Jared just bitches back, “Look, the game starts at seven. I’ll be there like seven-thirty, seven-forty-five tops. You have pizza, I’ll grab beer from my fridge and it’s game on!”
There’s more arguing from Chad’s end, just because he’s lazy and gets to work from home, so he puts as little effort into his life as possible. Jared’s not jealous in the slightest (okay, he kind of is).
The train car suddenly fills with a rush of last minute passengers then it jolts to life. Jared eyes the people around him and spots Hot, Pissy Guy. He smirks. Then considers coming up with a better nickname. But he’s kind of clueless when he just watches the guy settle into the seat across the aisle with a sourpuss look on his possibly beautiful face. Jared smirks a little in his direction and the guy looks confused then sits back and flips through his Blackberry.
Jared keeps arguing with Chad, shooting glances every so often at Hot, Pissy Guy, and tries to ignore how much the guy’s glaring back. Instead, Jared appreciates that Hot, Pissy Guy’s even acknowledging him. Because the green eyes are piercing and the cut of his jaw is sharp and begging to be touched. And the lips … Jared can’t even function when he considers putting his lips across them.
But then he zones back into his cell, and bitches more. “You are the biggest pussy I’ve ever met. You do nothing all day long and then you’re going to complain about making one phone call to get us food. Man up, Murray.”
A couple people in the area turn to Jared because A) he said pussy, and B) he’s pretty much using his outdoor voice. But he doesn’t see anything other than Hot, Pissy Guy. Jared smiles gently, but can’t manage much more than that because in addition to being physically clumsy on legs that take up like ninety percent of his body, he’s also awkward at the whole dating, flirting, seduction thing.
When Hot Pissy Guy rises for their stop, he shoots another glare in Jared’s direction and shakes his head. Jared watches him pass and exit, then frowns. He jumps up, lining up in the aisle just behind him, waiting for the train to make its complete stop. When it jerks while braking, Jared squeaks a little, drawing attention from Hot, Pissy Guy, who does the over-the-shoulder-crabby look thing and shakes his head.
They move forward and the guy pats a palm at the sign in the vestibule, the one with a cartoonish figure on a phone and lots of squiggly lines coming from its mouth. Jared stops to read it. Mind your manners and your cell phones.
Jared groans, drawing another shake of the head from Hot, Pissy Guy.
*
Jared sees Hot, Pissy Guy work his way up the aisle, coming from the previous car. They share a glance and Jared sits up a little, smiling just so slightly and feeling something burn in his stomach. He looks good in what he assumes is business casual of a pressed shirt tucked into sharp slacks - instead of the typical suit and tie.
The guy’s grumpy with his eyebrows down low and pursed lips. And Jared can see where he’s trying to avoid eye contact, but he keeps giving it then rolling his eyes.
Jared frowns, not liking it. But he shoots looks up top to see where the guy is sitting in the upper deck. And he keeps watching, even once the train stops at their station and they’re making their way off. Jared’s in the vestibule, trying to decide between rushing past the guy - not matter how hot he is or how much Jared wants him, the guy is constantly giving him dickish looks - or being nice and letting him by. They do a little step dance of the whole ‘are you going?’ ... ‘should I go?’ … until finally Hot, Pissy Guy sighs roughly and manages to push himself right past Jared, apparently not caring how they bump into each other and Jared accidentally kicks the back of the guys shiny shoes.
“Sorry!” Jared says immediately, fully of guilt. But Hot, Pissy Guy just rolls his eyes and marches quickly on his way down the platform.
“Fuck,” Jared mumbles to himself, and queues up his iPod, trying to ignore how he’s daydreaming about what a smile on that face would really look like.
*
Jared sees Hot, Pissy Guy coming down the aisle again. He looks grumpy, as usual, but not as pissy. Maybe just tired? Maybe drained and lost in the day? Jared’s not sure what it is, but it’s different.
He watches him with a sad smile and they meet eyes again, and the guy still looks like he’s the crabbiest thing in the world. But Jared sees something else in his eyes when they flicker back for another moment and he wants to say something.
Hot, Pissy Guy’s eyes flutter down to his seat, where there is barely any room for someone else to sit, then he looks to Jared and rolls his eyes. He moves on to the next car.
Jared throws a hand through his hair. It’s a lost cause to even pine over this guy, the one who is doing nothing more than shaking his head and rolling eyes.
*
Jared’s sour, the cloudy sky and just-beginning rain ruffling his mood. He slumps further against the window than he normally does, staring out the window and seeing how the rain’s trickling down the glass. His arms are crossed and his long legs are stretched within the footspace of the seat and he sighs. There were plans after work for a pick-up game of football, but this weather’s not cooperating.
He can’t even manage to be excited when he sees Hot, Pissy Guy walking down the aisle and watching him, looking as bored and disinterested as ever. Jared shakes his head and stares back out onto the water that’s suddenly pouring on the other side of the train. The guy slows and then kicks at Jared’s foot, making him look up with an annoyed look. He’s just standing there, staring down on the seat. But then he nudges a little nicer and mumbles, “You mind slidin’ over?”
There is no way he’s in the mood for this, but the train does look a little more packed than usual, for whatever reason. So he does as he’s asked and bunches his legs up in the space, feeling cramped in seconds.
But then his stomach flares and his brain stutters. Because? Well, as he texts to Sandy: OMG HOT PISSY GUY IS SITTING NEXT TO ME!
A minute later, it beeps and he reads her reply TALK TO HIM! And stop yelling at me :(
He frowns with his next text. not yellin but SANDS! its hot pissy guy
The throat clears next to him and Jared flinches a quick glance. “It’s Jensen.”
“Huh?” Jared squeaks, a little freaked out . This isn’t happening.
But Jensen points a finger at the hand holding the cell. “I’m not always pissy. But I guess hot is a good adjective.”
“Holy shit,” he mumbles before he can realize anything.
They fall silent and it’s nerve-wracking. Jared ignores Sandy's reply, trying to manage himself. But he can't get anything to come from his mouth but loud breathing, and he decides to just curl into the window and die.
“You know,” Jensen says absently. “There’s, like, basic etiquette to riding the train.”
Jared looks over, completely lost and speechless. He hates being this useless.
“Like not talking loudly on cell phones.”
He makes a tiny Huh sound that squeaks.
“Letting every other person off from the top. And not hogging seats to yourself.”
His eyebrows furrow and he faces forward, but keeps looking from the corner of his eye. Because Hot, Pissy Guy? Well, Jensen? He has a hot, pissy voice. “I’m not exactly a short guy,” Jared mumbles back. “In case you hadn’t noticed.”
A few moments tick by before Jensen replies, “Oh, I noticed.”
Jared turns his head just slightly, enough to see the guy, but not enough to make it like he’s staring. He spots a quirk of the mouth. Jared finally manages his voice enough to pathetically ask, “What are the rules about talking to strangers on trains?”
“I don’t know,” he says lamely, scratching just behind his ear while making an odd face.
There’s a surge in seeing Jensen uncomfortable. Jared sits up and smirks a little, he knows he can do this. He has to do it. This is likely his one and only shot. “Well, we’re not exactly strangers.”
“Hmm?”
“We’ve been flirting for, like, months now.”
Jensen levels a glare, “You’re really shitty at flirting then.”
“It’s been said,” Jared mumbles back.
“So.”
“Yeah.”
Jared glances out the window, watching the rain catch as the train speeds down the track. By the scenery, he knows they’re close to the end of the line and close to ending this moment. “Um, can I maybe have a chance to flirt badly when we're not stuck on the train?”
Long, silent seconds crawl by and Jared sighs, frowning and feeling like the biggest asshat in the world. The train slows into the station and eventually stops. He decides to wait a good, long while before he’ll get up, making sure Jensen is nowhere near him, or anyone else in the area who may have heard their conversation.
The car’s pretty empty, so he finally heaves himself out of self-pity long enough to sit up and turn. But then he stops, because resting where Jensen had been sitting is a crisp white square. Jensen’s business card. Jared smirks and flips the thing within his fingers. Then he barks out a laugh at the back, with Jensen’s chicken scratch.
Let’s work on your train etiquette. Then we’ll work on your flirting.