Explain to me how you're so damn naive

[apoorboy]

Who: Jesse and Rush
What: Coffee
Where: Downtown.
When: Sunday afternoon.
Rating: G for now

Comments

[beatingkeys]

Rush shouldn't have been nervous -- after all, just because it was one of his very first times hanging out with someone outside of school didn't mean that he needed to worry himself about it. Besides, nervousness was something that should occur only when necessary, which this situation certainly didn't warrant -- it was coffee, and with Jesse St. James, not-- the Pope, or something

[apoorboy]

Jesse simply blinked and stared at Rush, his confusion heightened. Rush was paying? That was ridiculous, Jesse had more money than he knew what to do with. His parents naively assumed that a healthy allowance compensated for their noticeable and continued absence in his life. Jesse would have explained all of this and paid for his own coffee if the prospect hadn't seemed so embarrassing and unnecessary. He simply shrugged and went to do as he was bade without a word.

As Jesse settled into in an ornately-carved wooden booth, a thought occurred to him at once terrifying and laughable. Was this- Had Jesse said anything to make Rush think that-

Jesse's thoughts were interrupted by Rush's arrival at the booth. The blond was all smiles, and despite his nagging doubts Jesse perked up. Rush's unassuming and friendly manner put Jesse instantly at ease, and he accepted his coffee with a polite "Thanks."

[beatingkeys]

"No problem," Rush said, reaching up to pat his hair down on his forehead. He slid into the booth as well, settling easily just across from Jesse and holding his coffee in front of him with both hands, fiddling with the dark red mug it had been poured into.

He found himself reaching for a topic of conversation; it seemed a bit cliche to begin talking about the piano, considering that's what the majority of their conversation at school already consisted of. And Rush knew the topics you were supposed to avoid in polite conversation; politics, religion... not to mention that Jesse probably didn't really want to discuss academics, considering he was a senior and practically out of there already.

"You don't really think anyone else noticed that mistake at rehearsal, do you?" he asked after a moment.

[apoorboy]

Jesse smiled in spite of himself, and said kindly, "No, I don't think anyone else noticed. I only noticed because I was the one singing. We'll be more careful next time. You're onstage; I can look to see when you're starting. Don't worry about it."

Having got that reassurance out of the way, Jesse took a long sip of his coffee as he stared determinedly at the patterns of wood grain on the table. The thought which had sparked in his head without any prompting continued to plague him, and Jesse avoided meeting Rush's searching gaze.

"It should be a good production, right?" he offered feebly after several moments of awkward silence. "Oliver, Charlotte, and I are old pros, of course, and the new girl, Berry, has a decent voice." "Decent" being the understatement of the century.

"I've sung with her a few times now, outside of rehearsal. She's almost as good as I am."