2025-05-23 - The Gardners of New York City

For some time now, Gabe's mom had been asking when they'd come home to visit. It'd been months. The longest she's gone without seeing them. And stall as Gabe might, the time has finally come to pay the piper. On one condition of course-- that Jett can come too. Obviously Mrs. Gardner said YES and purchased them both plane tickets immediately.

Here they are: mid-afternoon in New York City. Chelsea, to be exact. In front of a very large brownstone that might be multiple units or just one very big townhouse.

"Reminder. My mom can be a lot. If you need a break from her just say you need to go to the bathroom. That's what I always do. Also. Don't be nervous. Everything's great. It's great. It's fine. It's great."

HMM. Sure sounds like Gabe's the nervous one?!?! They're also doing that thing where they keep raking their hair back repetitively. If only they knew how much of a tell that is. They're dressed in one of their cropped sweaters with a bold pattern, the weave lighter for spring. Their black jeans are mid-rise, meaning more of their stomach is on display now that they're not on an employer-run island. There's a duffel bag of stuff for the weekend too, but they've totally made Jett carry that for them since he's the swol one in this relationship.

This was Jett's first time on an airplane! First time outside of the state truth be told! He had definitely experienced some wide-eye childish moments when it came to seeing the planes up close and personal - basically planted against the windows in the airport as they waited near their gate. The other thrilling moment was getting on the plane and of course doubly excited for being at the window. Take off was a little scary for first timers and the whole experience of ear popping and all that, was a lot! There was a lot of looking out the window and enjoying peanuts! It really wasn't all that long of flight but the experience was thrilling - even more so when they came into land, his face basically smooshed against the window (trying not to block it completely for Gabe) when they came soaring in over the state and then the city. It was all super stimulating for a guy who's not left Spellbound in over a year and before that was traveling around by stolen bike, bus tickets, or thumbing it.

So when they got out of the airport and all that, he's very much keeping his face planted to looking out the window. However they get there in uber or taxi, he's looking in all directions and definitely paying attention if Gabe calls out something to him.

But once they're at the house, his over-stimulation has sort of calmed down a bit! Not as much sensory overload by the time they get there.

The other thing about being off the island? No ashen skin, no feathers in his hair, just Jett. No magic. And that doesn't even seem to impact his appearance much at all. He wears a quiet smile at the reminder of Gabe's mom being a lot, reassuring, "I'm sure she'll be fine." His shoulder gives a little love bump into Gabe's shoulder, watching how many times they have raked back their hair. He carries a bouquet of spring flowers (it was the thing to do apparently - he googled it) while also hauling their duffel bag. He's wearing almost white washed blue jeans and black shirt with some sport number on it, with a jacket of the same blue jean material all blinged out; admittedly it's probably something Gabe suggested to him a while back and he was like yeah sure I can wear it! This man can wear anything and make it look good.

Thankfully Gabe's well versed enough in flying to not really feel the need to look out of the window. They gave Jett enough space to face-smoosh as much as possible, as long as possible, merely watching on with fond amusement. Hands were held when things got scary. All the overstimulation went unobstructed. Gabriel's nothing but patient (and extremely delighted by all of Jett's adorable antics).

But now, yes, Gabe is having a moment. It's a silent one, barely held back, but Jett can read them like a book at this point. They smile down at the flowers as they fish out their keys and start unlocking the front door. "Yeah. She'll be fine. She'll like those too. That was a good idea." And completely Jett's since there's no way in heck they'd be the one to do something that nice for their own mom outside of mother's day. It's not as if their glow is all that noticeable outside of nighttime but it's completely gone now. What a strange feeling to not be able to go ghost mode at any moment. Back to real life.

They finally get the door open and step inside, waving Jett in behind them. As it turns out, yeah, the whole building is the house. Gabe said before that they come from money and even with the price tag of their closet still being a mystery, the size and decor of this multi-floor townhouse gives it away. The place is furnished immaculately in neutral tones to let the hardwood stand out. Fancy art sculptures and framed canvasses line the walls, giving credence to art being more of a family thing than just a Gabe thing. They don't get very far into the main foyer when the sound of heels come click-click-click down the stairs.

"Gabe? Is that you?" A woman's voice calls out before she comes into view. She's dressed in a silk shirt tucked into a jean skirt and very closely resembles Gabriel (or the other way around). Her blonde hair is more brassy, kept long with parted bangs, and she looks to be in her late fifties though her red lipstick says she's not scared of being bold still. There's a glass of red wine in one hand. She's living her best life. "AAAAAH! HIIII!" she shrieks and picks up speed.

Gabe's face is making a HARD 😐 at this point. "Hey..." they say at 1/4th her energy. "Mom, this is Jett...Jett, this is Gail."

Gail, who had been on her way to tackle her kid, instead reroutes to breeze right past them towards Jett, arms held high to hug him. "Jett! Oh my god you're so handsome!! HIIII!"

Flowers in this city probably means he spent (or Gabe paid for half) a pretty penny on them. It's fine though, it's not like he had a lot of expenses back at the park and he could fork out a few dollars for this important meet and greet. He watches Gabe's emotion even if there's not a whole lot going on the outside, Jett knows them well enough by now to sus out those moments that are a little off. Right now Gabe is a little off. "Reddit said to bring something," he noted for the hundredth time, unsure of what else to buy someone who had everything and he was careful to get flowers that looked all colorful and shit. They looked good to him.

Though it was the building they were entering into that he looked up, trying to sort out if this was one of those NYC apartment complexes for the - the door opens - nope, not an apartment complex. He follows Gabe in and tries to keep his jaw from melting off his face because it dropped so damn hard. Jett was used to sharing an apartment room at the theme park complexes and before that his own room, and before that... well, a safe street corner was hard to come by, maybe behind a few bushes worked. This, this. His eyes floated over the spaces and toward the art pieces and ... he paused with uncertainty as the duffle bag rolled off his shoulder and he set the bags aside before kicking out of his shoes. No dirty shoes in this house!

He's got the second shoe off when Gabe's mom comes into view, and thankfully his jaw has been picked up off the floor and his mouth is snapped shut. His eyes flick toward Gail when she shrieks and picks up speed. Unlike Gabe, he has a flower shield at the ready. This is what Reddit explained about why one BUYS the flowers. "Hi-" he gets out as she breezes toward him and he lofts the flowers out toward her, "This is for you!" Please Reddit user18302342 don't let him down - the flowers are too pretty to squish!

Gabriel takes a deeeep breath, lets it out, dissociates. They're here, but they're not really here. At least for the space between their mom rushing past them and directly towards Jett. "Mom--" they start to warn, but Jett already has it under control. The swift lofting of flowers works and Gail halts seconds away from impact. She scoops up the bouquet with a squeaky awwwwwwwww and brings the flowers to her nose to sniff. Even if they don't really smell like anything, she still sniffs.

"Thank you, Jett, this is so sweet!" she says to him, a little jutted out lip signaling how touched she is even while her wine sloshes around in the glass. How she doesn't spill is a miracle. "I'll have you know that Gabe never brings me flowers."

"Liar," Gabe immediately deadpans. "I get you flowers all the goddamn time."

"See? They were overdue by a week and I had to miss an Ace of Base concert and this is how I'm treated?" Gail says to Jett with a little jostle of the flowers. "It's all attitude all the time since they moved out. OH--" A hand shoots up in Jett's direction. "I'm so sorry, honey, what are your...hold on...what's it again...oh right, what are you pronouns? Mine are she/her/hers."

Gail looks too proud at remembering to ask. Gabe just facepalms quietly.

Jett cannot help but laugh softly at the 'scooping' up of the flowers; it might be an awkward relieved kind of laugh but it was still a laugh that does that higher end giggle of Jett's range. "You're welcome," he says with a quick follow up as he watches how the wine glass miraculously keeps the wine in with all that action. He side glances to Gabe when there's a soft accusation of never bringing her flowers, but before he gets to chime in himself, Gabe is there deadpanning. That... that deadpan makes Jett grin and snicker quietly - it's what he sort of fell for in the beginning anyway! The whole vibe.

His attention pivots back to Gail when she mentions overdue by a week, which one can tell by the slight furrowing of brows, to confuse Jett. He doesn't say anything but he hopes there's some explanation behind it with an arched brow hooked toward Gabriel. Then back. Attitude. "Well for what it's worth, I love their attitude. It's part of their charm." He smirks again and then watches the struggle for the pronoun conversation, answering with comfort soon after, "He/him/his."

With the flowers out of his hand though he quickly reaches toward Gabe and slings an arm around them, "Or well, theirs." As a possessive as he gives Gabe a wink and smiles back over toward Gail. "Gail, you have a big home. I've never been in one so big."

Gail, unfortunately, is too busy taking in all of Jett's outfit to actually notice the nuance of his curious expression. But no matter, Gabriel clocks it quickly. "Past her delivery date. While she was pregnant with me," they explain, then turn a sharp look towards her, "as if I was grabbing onto your intestines to stay inside on purpose."

"Gabriel," Gail clucks her tongue. "Don't be so crass."

"You started it," Gabe deadpans back. At this point...there's actually a fraction of a smile on their face. Like this is just their usual rapport even if it looks somewhat awful in front of mixed company.

Gail waves the flowers at Gabe with an exasperated sigh that trails off into a tittering laugh. She's used to this. Then Jett has to go and say that extremely adorable bit about loving Gabriel's attitude and Gail just squeaks out another pitchy awwwwwwwww. "Well nice to meet you, he/him/his." She grins at her own joke, then waves them both further in. "I'm glad someone loves their attitude. Though my husband is better at dealing with it, too bad he's out on business."

"Really? He's not going to be home?" Gabe frowns, though it melts quickly when Jett slings an arm around them. They look at him, eyes soft with fondness. "Guess you'll just have to come back to meet my dad at some point." They start to walk, tugging Jett along and leaving the bags behind for now.

Gail of course witnesses all this affection between the two of them and purses her lips into a barely stifled grin towards Jett. "Thank you, sweetie. I'll give you a tour. Just so you know where everything is. I set up the guest room for you, it's on the same floor as Gabe's but..." she holds up a finger from where she's clasping her wine as they all head up the stairs, "no funny business okay? I might be a hip mom but I'm not that hip. No third base in this house."

"Moooooooom," Gabe groans. "Seriously what the fuck."

Jett ohs just under his breath when Gabe explains the 'overdue part' as if he wasn't tracking and somehow thought there was a 'flower' order that was overdue or something. It was a lot for him to witness the interaction between parent and child; not like it's the first time he saw that either, though Gabe's way to add their own wit and attitude to the situation made it at least a moment Jett could power through. So Jett settles in for the banter back and forth, keeping aware of Gabe's expression as key to the vibe - like - oh look there's a little fraction of a smile, so this is probably a safe moment.

Jett's expression sort of remains a little blank when Gail tries to give a joke? Was that really a joke at the pronouns? He side glances at Gabe then back over at Gail, watching her as she waves them in. "You didn't lie," Jett says under his breath to Gabe. Gail was a lot, but somehow surprisingly still like Gabriel that he could on instinct like appreciate her - for being a rich white woman anyway.

"Yeah, we can do that," he says quickly though to the suggestion of coming back to meet the dad. "Maybe by then I'll know your mom better." And so he is tugged. As he is tugged he's looking around at the white walls and the immaculate art pieces that are displayed in a way that makes the room look like a museum.

All of a sudden though there is a fifty year old woman giving him the ground rules of the house, which, includes not being in the same room as his partner. "Funny business?" He definitely has never had a parent before in his life - what the fuck was funny business. "I'm not a very good comedian anyway," he responds with full confidence that's what she meant. And something about being a hip mom gets another deer in the headlights look from Jett. Ahh but then the last remark is met with a raised brow, "Well we are a couple Mrs Gail." As in yes 'funny business' has transpired before, offering a reassuring expression to Gabe even as they protest, "It is your house and we'll respect that." Will he though? He's never been one to fully obey the rules, having to break them to live time and time again.

Then as a subject change he asks, "Do you have a favorite memory with Gabe? You know, sometime after they made you miss the ... Ace of Base concert?"

Gabriel had good reason to warn Jett and this is why. They just share a look with him when he says they didn't lie. It basically says I told you so without actually even saying it. They wind an arm around Jett's hips as they go up the stairs which are generous in size enough to accomodate two people at a time.

It's all pretty standard Mom Stuff until it sounds like Jett's confused about 'funny business'. Gabe opens their mouth to say something when that well we are a couple comment comes out. They quickly give Jett's hip a squeeze as if to get him to NOT but it's too late. Gail lifts the bouquet to one side of her face while lifting the glass to the other, miming covering her ears.

"La la la, I don't want to know unless you're both married," she says loudly but still without any real bite. "Gabe's always going to be my baby and I don't want to picture my baby doing anything like that. So yes, sweetie, let me continue to live in blissful ignorance please. Thank you."

They reach the second floor, which is really another living room which is slightly more comfortable for TV watching and a hallway to the kitchen and a bathroom. Large sliding glass doors lead to an ample balcony. She points out what's on this level before trailing off at Jett's questions. "Oh hun," she says with a bittersweet smile. "They're all my favorite memories. It's so hard to pick just one but...I'd have to say that meeting Gabe's first ever real boyfriend is a favorite one even if it's not done yet." She glances over at Gabe. "Am I allowed to say that or am I going to get in trouble again?"

One side of Gabe's mouth ticks up as they look over at Jett. "Yeah. You're allowed to say that."

Jett is equal parts terrified and amused over here with Gail. This is not a situation he could have been prepared for no matter how many family sitcoms he tried to watch in preparation for it. The silent look that is flashed at him is met with another one of wry amusement, noting softly in a rueful whisper, "I don't have to go to the bathroom, yet." That will happen at some point.

The hip squeeze comes too late. He gets to bare witness to the whole act of Gail trying to cover her ears and act out as if she didn't hear him. Married. He side glances down at their hands, where their rings are at. He pops a brow at Gabe, some mischief brewing in his eyes. Thankfully for the moment he doesn't indicate the couple rings both of them are wearing.

The second floor -- more space. It's a lot all that space. So much space his head is rotating this way and that as he gets the tour. "You grew up here?" He asks Gabe, as if to clarify this is exactly the lifestyle that they grew up knowing. Though when Gail answers, his head tilts a little at the real boyfriend remark, about to question it until she tacks on it's not done yet. AHhh shit. His face colors (and it's really red) and he glances down quick at the compliment, nevermind she's worried about getting in trouble for it.

It's his turn to rake his fingers through his hair, rubbing the back of his neck as he side eyes Gabe and spots their lips up ticking. "Gabe is my first real ever partner too," he lets her know that he's on equal footing with Gabe, "We've made some great memories so far. I look forward to more; like they're taking me to get my hair dyed for the first time." That was on the agenda, somewhere, in this trip.

For now, Gabe says nothing, just continues that look. Jett's really on his own here for the most part, unless catastrophe strikes and they need to intervene. Gail's just gonna Gail.

Shut up, they mouth silently at Jett as a grin spreads across their face. Imagine telling Gail right NOW what the rings mean, even if they both haven't even verbalized it yet. DON'T. Another silent word. His hip gets another squeeze even as Gail pleads for ignorance. If she hasn't noticed the rings (or is pretending not to), that's on her.

They let out a puff of air to get their bangs out of their face and nod a little. "Yep. It's been remodeled though. Wasn't nearly this offputtingly white when I left for college. They're in their empty nest era." Said in front of Gail who for once does not argue. It's then that Jett blushes and Gabe can't help leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek.

"Really? But you're so handsome!" Gail can't help but interject. She still awwws for the millionth time and presses the wine glass into her chest. "I'm glad, honestly. Have fun in the city. Do your hair. Go shopping. See some theater. If you need anything just let me know. Treat this like your home, I want you to be comfortable." She points to the stairs and click click clicks her way back over there. "Still more! Hope you like getting your steps in. Keeps me looking young."

Gabe holds Jett back a second before following. "I told her, by the way," they say quietly. "About how you grew up. Not like in detail but enough so she wouldn't put her foot in her mouth when she met you. I hope that's okay?"

Jett cannot help snicker a little at the silent commands not to go and tell Gail about the rings on their fingers. It's not like they were hidden or removed; at least he didn't remove his. His eyes widen with a playful tease at the mouthed 'shut up' and a quick look away, as if to suggest he was going to do something about it. He doesn't though, probably because of the hip squeeze that truly declares Gabe's discomfort with the whole thing.

Jett nods slowly about the house being remodeled and he quirks a brow at the turn of phrase used to describe their parents and the choice of decoration. "I mean it looks," he stalls for only a split second because anything else would be considered rude, "Like a museum. There's a lot to look at." And all at once nothing to look at! It's such a juxtaposition and he cannot imagine living that way. "I like your rug," he decides to say, which could be Gabe's rug or Gail's rug; whoever chooses to hear it and accept the compliment. The kiss to his cheek is met with a quick glance over and a flashed smile.

Jett ducks his head a little at Gail's interjection, the compliment not something he's good at taking. Gabe should know this; he doesn't know what to do with a compliment to save his life. It bounces around in his head for a bit before he shrugs, "I didn't have a car." As if that explained everything! He still doesn't have a car but that's besides the point, as they don't need a car on the island! That she offers that he needs anything and wants him to be comfortable almost makes him shot back about needing to be with Gabe, but he simply shows a tight smile with that impish glow behind his eyes, and a quick, "I appreciate the offer Mrs Gail." The next set of stairs has him chortle, or maybe it was Gail's explanation of it keeping her young.

He pauses at behind held back, looking over at Gabriel for the hold up. His brows waggled; stolen kiss time? Oh. Oooooooooh. Yeah that's not what he thought was going to happen. His expression falls from the potential smoochy face smile to one of sobering reality. He swallows a lump in his throat and adds with a quick, "Yeah. I get it. It's fine. Prevents shitty convos." He steals a look toward Gabe's mom before he steals a kiss anyway! "C'mon, I have to plan my escape route to your room," he whispers and then grabs Gabe's hand and tugs them after Gail.

There's a lot of silent teasing whipping back and forth between these two, solidifying their made up language comprised solely of looks. Thankfully it all gets settled with that squeeze by the time Jett declares the place looks like a museum. "Pretty much," Gabe says drolly. As for the rug, their brows quirk up perhaps thinking he's talking about theirs, the Kandinsky inspired one. Because Gail's is greige (gray-beige).

"Thank you!" Gail chimes in, taking the W. But when it comes to not having a car, she waves her fingers at him. "Neither does Gabe. You have that in common too." And she's up the stairs at that point.

That waggle of brows gets a smarmy smirk from Gabe. They know what he's insinuating but NO, it's a slightly more serious conversation. "And it's more me protecting you than protecting her. No one wants a backstory jump scare during breakfast when they're not expecting it." Jett manages to sneak in a kiss which earns him a proper smile before Gabe lazily shuffles after him as they're tugged. "Both rooms are on the same floor. She didn't plan it out that well."

And indeed the next floor up has a smaller open living space with fancy workout equipment (treadmill, weights, etc) and a hallway at the far end that has two doors opposite each other. One is Gabe's room, the other the guest room. Each have en suite bathrooms.

Gail stops just in front of the guest room and turns to Jett. "And this is you! Fresh towels in your bathroom, toiletries, all that. But if there's something specific you need just let me know. Ted and I are on the last floor upstairs. It's not part of the tour since I'm watching Marshmallow for the Kramer's next door and Gabe told me you're not a fan of dogs. He's got a crate and everything so you won't ever see him. He likes to wake me up to pee at 5am mostly." She beams back and forth at Gabe and Jett, then starts to do a little sideways scoot with her flowers and her wine towards the stairs. "Dinner will be at 7! I'll let you both get settled and then I want to hear everything."

Jett's brow arches up a little at Gabriel's disdain for the museum look, but knowing their particular love for graffiti goth and loud colors, it's not necessarily a surprise that Gabe showed disdain for the white washing. And Jett's compliment was totally about the Kandinsky rug but it was also to appease Gabe's mother with some compliment or another; and it worked too. Her chiming in has him tilt his head down with an immutable smile bursting across his face. Maybe he was having a go at Gail, and yet, he doesn't openly laugh at her. His gaze picks back up just in time to see the finger waved his way, "Oh," he says with a slight wheeze at the idea that having no cars was something to be proud at having in common. That he couldn't resist a cute Jett laugh at, "Yes... I guess we do!"

The explanation of why his story was told before hand does make sense and it softens his expression to know Gabe wanted to protect him. "Yeah," he swallows since it had already been tough once to confide in Gabe what brief details he did give. And then a sunny smile swishes over him, "It's not my life anymore though." His hand squeezes Gabes, softly noting, "You are." Probably so Gail didn't hear and 'lalala' herself further upstairs. A knowing laugh meets Gabe's last remark. It'd be easy enough to sneak out during the night unless she booby-trapped it or something; whatever helped her sleep at night!

The gym... that has his attention. "WOAH!" He half jerks to a stop at seeing the private gym, "That's sick!" He will definitely be using it while they were there. "You didn't tell me you had your own gym..." not that he seriously tries to accuse Gabe of holding out, more of a playful surprised sort of way. He's excited for it! While not a gym bro he does like to keep fit and his routines kept some of the bad thoughts at bay.

Finally once back on track to the guest rooms, he regards the room in which he's to say. Jett slides his eyes toward Gabe as Gail mentions the dog thing, turning it back, "What else did they tell you about me?" His expression brightens, "Hopefully good things too? Not just phobias and ..." he hand gestures, "No cars." Because cars in this instance totally meant parents, family, a whole assed life he was supposed to have but didn't. "Nothing else right now, thank you!" His eyes widen a bit at her wanting to hear everything; very few adults in his life wanted to hear everything. It's one of those quiet moments that perhaps someone like Gabe can appreciate, understanding how exceptionally rare this was for Jett to experience, if ever. His eyes flicker back to Gabe once she's up, lowering his tone, "Do you think she'll want to know about the closet?" An impish wink snaps at Gabe before he's noting cheerfully (such an odd word to use for the goth boy), "I'll get the bags!"

Awww cute Jett laugh. Gabe will have to tell him later that the no cars thing is because no one drives in NYC. Right now they're too busy staring at his mouth while it makes that shape they love so much.

The squeeze to their hand gets one right back as their expression softens with Jett's sentiment. "So are you," they say just as quietly to avoid more lalala's. There's no booby-trapping here, just pure honor code. Which if she knew her own kid, she'd understand that there's no honor amongst thieves. Or in this case, blonde ghosts. Either they'll find their way to Jett's room or vice versa but one thing's for sure-- it's happening.

"UM." The home gym. Yep. "That used to be my art studio space but my dad's having his midlife crisis I guess?" Gabe snorts as they look from the free weights to their mother.

"It's called getting in shape, Gabriel," Gail sing-songs at her kid. Both a chide and a tease. "It has nothing to do with a crisis. It's hard to stay limber in our age! We still wanna have fun. But yes, Jett honey you can use anything you like."

The guest room itself has more of that cream-greige chic palette, though it's at least plenty comfortable with a large four post bed and a flat screen tv mounted to the wall. Black out curtains and everything. No expense spared. Gail takes one whole step before twisting around again to grin at Jett. That's a loaded question he just asked her and the way she keeps looking back at Gabe reveals she's gauging how much to say. "Ohhhhh nothing much. Just the standard he's the hottest person I've ever kissed and I don't know how I haven't scared him off yet." Gabe suddenly COUGHS from that tidbit but Gail just talks louder over them like it's a non-issue. "Don't you worry. I told them that if you could see past that Butt Face they make all the time, just like we do, then there's no reason to run. They're just a sensitive, beautiful little soul."

At this point, Gabe's making the I Wanna Die face (which is actually different from the "Butt Face"/Deadpan in the way that they're straight up frowning). "Yeah maybe you should tell her about the closet." It's petty revenge for what Gail's just said though Jett can probably see that a mile away and know that's not REALLY what he should say.

Gail's now laughing her ass off as she click click clicks back to the stairs in what must be her house heels by how clean they are.

"I'll be here..." Gabe mumbles at Jett after he cheerfully states he'll get the bags, "recovering whatever pride I have left."

INT. GARDNER DINING ROOM - LATER

Dinner's almost done with everyone having had their fill and dessert appearing in the form of a tray of brownies. For Gail being a bougie lady, she can actually cook! What a surprise. Both she and Gabe are on their second glasses of wine (which Jett was also offered), which by Feral Enby decree means Gabe's already playing socked footsie with Jett under the table.

"So what are your plans after Spellbound?" Gail asks Jett now that she's officially in nosy mom mode. "Or is Spellbound the end goal?"

To hear his own declaration echoed upon Gabe's lips created a warming wholesome expression on Jett's expression, only for Gabe to see. In the time that he had been with Gabe the marks of pain that had seethed below the surface like some black shadow from his gritty past had been ever increasingly replaced by ta brightness and true happiness. The honeyed flecks in his brown eyes gleamed with such happiness that perhaps the moment stretched a little too long that they'd get a 'lalala' anyway. For what it was worth though, Jett brushed his thumb over their chin and briefly to the corner of their mouth. His lips did not vocalize their private sentiments but Gabe could be sure what it meant - 'I fucking love you.'

Womp womp. The fact that Gabe's art space had been converted into a gym does fill Jett with a little pang of guilt for celebrating it so much, but Jett was never going to push Gabe back toward the arts if they really didn't feel it. "You get to benefit in watching me work out," which perhaps was never the case back on Spellbound as Jett would slip off to the gym after Gabe started their shift or do it some time between.

Then a smirk at 'Gail's chide and tease, which has him thoroughly looking back to her to consider her opinions on the matter. "Thank you," he once again says. How many times does he have to say it? Every time something was offered for him to use perhaps? Who knew.

What was more important was indeed what Gabe had twittered about him to their mom. That's the important part - the answer to the loaded question. The answer does surprise another higher pitched giggle, one that was short and tweeted outward in a sun-shining laugh. Perhaps it's even better when Gabe coughs in attempt to mask the truth from Gail's unlocked lips. Butt face had him putting the back of his hand up to his mouth trying to conceal the impish delight in hearing that as he tittered again. His teeth were all seen as his grin was that wide, "Yeah, they are. Beautiful."

The I want to DIE face has him snorting again, especially since Gabe is making a veiled threat about releasing the intimacies of the closet escapade to their mother. Jett doesn't say anything, reading into their expression, but instead reaching out and petting Gabe's cheeks, whispering, "I adore your Butt Face."

Before he's thoroughly punished for his wicked words aligning with Gail, he's off to get their bags, and not without another stolen kiss.

---

Jett would totally have a glass of wine or two, but probably after the first glass didn't disappear so quickly it was evident to see that he hadn't acquired the taste for it yet. It wouldn't go to waste but he wasn't hammering it down either. What he is mowing down? A fucking brownie! "SoGOOD-MRSGAIL" he muffles with a punchy enthusiasm for the brownies, not above side eyeing Gabe for the footsie party going on underneath the table. How cruel was it to tease Jett at their mother's table? It was working, as much as Jett was trying to feign otherwise, there'd be moments his chewing would stop and his eyes would have lid - this could be chalked up to the chocolate coma but in reality it was something Gabe was doing that straightened his spin as his body gave a likely response to the teasing.

Oh fuck.

That's of course when Gail has to ask a question about ... plans.

Jett reaches for his drink, trying to clear his throat not only of the brownie but of any husky tones that might have started to creep up and build a lump in his throat due to the feral feets of his Enby. The answers could be so crass in this moment, his brain so bloody tied up in the slow undressing of Gabe with his eyes. Swallow. "Plans." He repeats in a rhetorical way and to get his mind to jolt away from the lewd, "Well, hmm," he looks over to Gabe then back to Gail, "It was the end goal before I met Gabe. Like, I didn't see any reason to move on from it. The place had everything I could need or want." And while some of his check went straight back to the corporation for uniforms and rent, he still had enough to have fun with after. "Now?" He rolls a shoulder, "Jewelry. I craft some already, sell it in the shops on the island. I think I can design pieces, once I get better at what I'm doing now. I thought maybe sculpting or construction, too." He shrugs, "But I like working with my hands best." Jobs that don't require a master's degree or even a high school diploma.

"Oh puhleaseee, call me Gail! The Mrs just makes me feel like a teacher or something," Gail titters.

Gabe, from behind their glass and still going all in on feral feets attack while bringing out the Butt Face again, "Mom you WERE a teacher? Like...what even?"

"You know what I mean!" she laughs. Oh no. She's Mom wasted already. But her attention is on Jett and for the most part she doesn't know him well enough to know that his lidded eyes are regarding anything but wine-and-chocolate. Gail nods along as he explains, glancing over to Gabe when it turns out they were the reason behind the change of plans. "Oh so it's serious." There's a bit of an ooh-la-la tone there as a little grin appears. "I have a lot of friends who make jewelry too. It's a great business and really lets you be creative at the same time. Do you have a website? I'd like to see some of your pieces."

"Oh, well, here--" Gabe finally pauses tormenting Jett under the table to sit up and haphazardly tug out all three necklaces Jett made. The first two they asked to "borrow" and the skeleton bust with the heart. They tend to wear them all stacked almost every day of the week.

Gail squints from across the table and makes a loud oooooooooh. "Gorgeous!"

Jett lets their conversation sort of start filling up a little void in him, that hole becoming fuller in this moment. It doesn't even matter that Gail is starting to get lush into her wine along with Gabe, as long as the conversation was pleasant and wholesome he would simply let his gaze tick between the two.

For some reason though, when Gail goes as bratty as Gabe can be, teasing them both about how serious it was, his cheeks darken. He cannot help it but he looks bashful underneath the ooo-la-la tone, sitting back with a decided, "It was serious the moment I lifted in a dance." He won't explain the dance was a video game, "At least for me that's when it really hit."

And as for the jewelry he nods after Gabe shows off the ones they wear - it was always something to see how appreciating they were about that - "I think I can do well, especially if a brand designer picks me up." He upnods, "Just a little shopify store and some social media platforms. It's not bustling yet but I'm sure if I get a viral video..." he admits, "I have been trying to show more of me skateboarding and doing regular things. Apparently that helps." He gets out his phone, the one that had been cracked but now repaired, over toward Gail, "You can thumb through there. Those are the pieces I have available." And the prices were reasonable, not at all outlandish - perhaps some would say he's lowballed himself.

"HOLD ON--" Gail starts just as both of Gabriel's hands shoot up to wave a panicked nonononono. "You got them to dance?! Like actually dance? Like move around on a dance floor in front of other people?"

"Mom I swear to god--"

"Jett!" Yeah she's just talking right over Gabe who's now slumping back dramatically in their seat. "Are you aware that Gabe has refused to dance with anyone in public since they were sixteen and Jenny Berminster turned them down during the winter formal?"

"Look at what you did," Gabe deadpans at Jett. There's a strange sort of amusement behind all their drama, like this is both the WORST THING EVER for Jett to know and also highly amusing? Clearly they have danced...in clubs, at parties. Jett knows about those, Gail does not. But when it comes to Official Gardner Approved Couples Dancing, well then yes.

Gail's theatrics get sidelined by the sudden need to look at Jett's phone and swipe through all the options. There's enough squinting going on that she actually has to fish out little reading glasses from the pocket of her cardigan and slip them on. "Honey these are fantastic. Though...I bet you could raise your prices a smidge. Trust me, we're in the art business and there's something you should learn about profit margins. They should be as big as possible." After a moment of perusing she hands the phone back. "Viral videos are good but you'll also want to do a collab with another designer eventually or get someone with more followers than you to wear a piece as advertising. That's what really gets the eyeballs."

Jett freezes at the every emphatic hold on... like he's done something wrong. Deer in the headlights. Innocent blink. Then a moment later he remembers to breathe when Gail's surprise is about getting them to dance. "Yeah. Once at like a formal masquerade and then just like on a date," again side lining the fact that the date was to an arcade and totally not classified as a date at the time. One of those unspoken things that just morphed into what it was.

Then his eyes light up at Gabe having not danced since they were sixteen in public, shooting Gabe whole assed shocked look that was equal parts fond and equal parts grateful that Jett got to be the one that did those things with Gabe. The accusation alla deadpan has Jett stretch out his foot underneath the table and run up Gabe's leg for a change, "I know. I'm so proud too." He looks back over toward Gail, "Did you ever watch that movie, you know the one with the dancing and Swayze? Dirty Dancing?" He winds it up, "Because we totally did that lift. For like a few seconds but we did it!"

And then the scrolling and thrumming through his portfolio. Prices are too low. "Okay, how much of a smidge?" He's just getting into the art business and perhaps he could learn from this family how to more successfully navigate it. He takes the phone back and nods about collabs, "Yeah I'll have to see. There was this one influencer... Unimartin I think. Kind of would kill in some of these designs." He files that away for another day as he fishes something out of his pocket - carrying it around this whole time and not necessarily telling Gabe.

What he puts on the table is a little satchel. When he opens it and spills out the contents, careful to contain it with a hand, he's got a hand of raw uncut diamonds ... of various shades and sizes! There's black, the traditional, grey, and like blue and purple. They're real. He exhales as they've remained in existence here. "I was thinking of branching out into like, fine jewelry, with fancy gemstones and metals." He sits back, "It's a totally different direction than what I got now. I think I'd have to have a second brand." What's piled before him is probably vary in value, from less than 0.3 carats all the way up to value 2 and 3 carat diamonds; so the whole lot might be just shy of a hundred grand. He's oblivious to it. He looks between them, "So yeah, jewelry." He also oohs softly and tugs out a folded sketched drawing from in the satchel, and smooths it out. The sketch is a very badly drawn torso (he's no artist in that sense) and then some lines indicating his design, and a better more clearer picture of the design below, "I was thinking of getting into body jewelry too."

"Formal masquerade!" Gail excitedly looks back and forth between Jett and Gabe. "Gabriel! I can't believe you didn't tell me about this!"

"Jett shut up please," Gabe laments through a rueful laugh that trails off into a noise. The noise is hard to decipher on a surface level but is definitely one of those groans mixed with a giggle they do when something feels especially nice. AKA Jett's retribution happening under the table. Their face keeps wavering between deadpan-annoyed and besotted over Jett's gushing. Those two glasses of wine aren't helping either (nor did all that previous undressing with eyes across the table).

"Dirty Dancing? Of course! That one's been on rotation since Gabe was little. They loved it. That and what's the other one? Footloose? Yeah they'd be banging on the counter and the walls and the doors and jumping off the couch during that big dance scene." Gail out here airing all of Gabe's secrets like it's no big thing.

But as for the smidge-- "30% for starters. Jewelry is a luxury product. People want to feel like they're getting their money's worth even if they have no idea how much it actually cost to make." She takes a swig of her wine while the satchel comes out.

At this point, Gabe's fighting a terrible smile for the mention of Unimartin who's pretty much all of the internet's boyfriend. It leaves them distracted enough to miss the satchel's appearance and have them suddenly gasp when it turns out there's diamonds on the table. Raw, but still. "Babe! What?!" They sit up and reach for one to tug it closer. "Where the fu..." but through the wine fog Jett's earth magic materializes. They're left stunned for a second.

Gail whistles from where she's seated. "You had those in your pocket in New York? You'll want to be careful, hun, people get mugged for twenty bucks out here. And this is...well this is more than twenty." She looks at Gabe with a curious expression but Gabe just looks away. How to even explain that?

They're also focusing on the new design, anyway. "I'd wear the shit out of that," Gabe mumbles with a tilt of their head.

Jett cackles when Gabe laments. CACKLES. There's not even a sorry baby following that, just mirthful glee at Gabe's expense. Of course that cackle doesn't at all stop the under the table footsie; there was intent every time his socked toe found its way up Gabe's pant leg.

"Oh I don't know Footloose," he admits with a hint of impishness behind him that is a bold faced lie, "Gabe, maybe you can demonstrate what I'm missing out on." Wolfish grin. He's totally using every opportunity to tease his beloved.

Jett takes the price increase under advisement.

The expression from Gabe has him noting, "I wanted to get them appraised before you know, doing anything with them. I got them on the island." As a way to explain without having to indicate his magic was the root cause, "There's more too. I wanted to start small, see if it was a worthwhile investment. I didn't know if they'd be fake ... and it's not like there's a diamond appraiser at the themepark." He looks to Gail, "Do you know where I can go to get a fair appraisal?" He does wink over at Gabe's stunned response.

"Uh yeah? Where else am I supposed to have them?" He wonders, openly, "It's not like they'd fit exactly in my shoes." His shoes, at the door, totally ratty looking - and that's how he liked it. "It's not like uh, anyone would look at me and think 'hey that guy has diamonds in his pocket' anyway."

As for the design, Jett's mouth spreads feral, his voice drops despite the mom being in the room, "I was hoping you'd say that. I need a model to work off of."

"Not on your life," Gabriel snaps back in the face of Jett's CACKLING. Of course he's enjoying himself, why wouldn't he? Gabe might be more grumpy about it if they didn't also want him to feel comfortable here. To know what it's like to have a meddling ass mom who loves to reveal embarrassing shit about the childhood that no longer matches your stoic grown up persona. They just huff and accept that they're going to be the punchline for the rest of the evening. At least there's under the table shenanigans!

On the island.

Gabe knows what that means. They just keep the holy shit my boyfriancé can make raw gemstones off their face. Gail, on the other hand, polishes off her wine and nods confidently. "I know a guy." It makes her sound like a mobster and she's living for it, grinning to herself. "We can go tomorrow."

"No but people will pickpocket you anyway and whoops there go your precious minerals," Gabe explains through a mouthful of brownie. Jett's tone has them looking over at him with lofted brows. A smile slowly spreads across their face as they lean over and deposit the second half of the brownie on Jett's plate. They only wanted a bit anyway. "If you'd go anywhere else I'd be offended." It's that deadpan again, except more in the tune of rose bushes threats. A very specific cadence they only really ever take with Jett. It's flirting.

And Gail clocks it from across the table. "Hey! I'm RIGHT HERE!" she whines.

"Who are you again?" Gabe breaks out into wicked laughter, finally getting one in on their mom.

The snap back has Jett's mouth fading into a pout only because he's putting it on, "Aww c'mon, I bet you're great at it. If fact I know you are. Do it for meeeee?" It's totally a plead but of course he wouldn't expect them to do it right here or right now, maybe somewhere private that he'd get a one-off showing, which is why his brow gives another impish waggle to suggest as much. The damn foot shenanigans are making things hazy! Sorry mom.

Jett can totally make raw gemstones; he had discovered it by accident really when he was grousing over his luck and wishing he had a diamond. When it sort of came into being, he replicated it. The immediate response was shock and replication, and a bunch of gleeeee with himself practically dancing on tip toes and cackling madly about his new fortune. Of course, Gabe had been on shift, so the only audience was those snuggle-bunny things that eyed him fearfully. Why he didn't tell Gabe right then? Probably because as he said tonight, he wanted to make sure it wasn't fake and give false hopes to both of them. Gail knowing someone nets a smile, "You do? Thanks Gail! I really hope they're like not fake and I wasn't duped."

The insight of being pickpocketed has him smirk, probably because he might have been the one doing the pickpocketing once. "Yeah, maybe..." he is still doubtful he'd have been a target. Instead he's watching Gabe take a bite of that brownie, watching as the smile spreads across their face, how there might just be a little smudge of brownie at the corner of their lips that he reaches out and plucks away on his thumb, immediately cleaning it off with his lips. He will eat the left over brownie. No brownie waste here. His own smile has sunk into that smeary affection that is highly suggestive to what is indeed on his mind, and that wasn't rose bushes.

Gail breaks him out of it as he flicks his eyes back suddenly as if caught stealing a cookie. He promptly keeps his eyes down and takes a bite out of the brownie, and not without some light hearted 'teehee' kind of laughter around it.

Will Jett and Gabe make it out of dinner without actually making out? WHO KNOWS?!

THE NEXT DAY--

Gabe had set up a hair appointment with 'their girl' for Jett, and after grabbing breakfast at a spot overlooking the river, they're on their way to the salon. "So just so you know," they squeeze Jett's hand since ~obviously~ it's illegal to walk without holding hands in this city, "it might take more than one try. Bleach is more a science than an art and your hair is way darker than mine. To not fry it completely, usually you need to do a first pass and give it some time and then do it again to get whatever version of blonde you want. You said extremely fucking blonde yeah? Like me? For the record, I have highlights too. That's an extra layer of shit."

Jett was wearing typical black baggy jeans and a black tank top with his red and black flannel button up thrown over. He had his fill at breakfast and made sure not to carry around the valuables that he had smuggled in from the island. His hand was warmly clasped around Gabe's with his thumb brushing every so often over their fingers. He totally trusted Gabe's advice on who to go see to get his hair done because it's likely he would've went into any old shop. His eyes kept up a vigilance as they walked, darting here and there, enjoying the views but also being alert for any trouble. The question has him look over at them with a sudden smile, "Yes like you." He leans over and pops a quick kiss to the side of their forehead, "I don't want to steal your thunder if you'd rather me not. I could go like another color if you didn't want my hair to match yours?" He's offering that up in case it bothered Gabe that Jett wanted to copy-cat a little.

Gabe smirks fondly when Jett kisses the side of their forehead and gives his hand another squeeze. “Babe, you can do whatever you want. I’m not precious about my look. Plus like…I caught you already so I can stop getting my roots touched up, right?” They grin big and bright and sassy, obviously teasing. It’s a lovely late spring day with the sun out and a breeze rustling the tree-line street. Gabe’s in another proper crop top and jeans with chic platform sneakers. It’s the most casual they’ve looked yet. The top of course has a surly DON’T PERCEIVE ME in bold letters.

Crossing the street, they walk up a short flight of stairs to the second floor of a brownstone. A salon above a small taco place. It’s cozy inside, trendy as ever, and blasting some kind of 80s playlist that doesn’t match the all rose gold accents. 100% this is more of a ladies salon. Which is why Gabe feels completely at home.

“Gaaaaaaabe! Oh my GOD it’s been forever!” A brunette with a pixie cut and armfuls of tattoos shouts as she walks over to hug them. “You must be Jett? My 10am?” She releases Gabe to start looking over Jett’s dark hair. “I hope neither one of you have plans because we’re gonna be here all day.”

"Your hair is fab, baby, but it wasn't the reason I was caught," his eyes show the truth of that answer, before they impishly narrow as he tacks on, with a little finger pinch into the air, "Smidge of the reason." That they're being sassy has him shaking his head with a growing smile, knowing he's absolutely done in by them. The infatuation has long since turned into love and that love is ever growing day by day, especially over moments of Gabe sass! Crop tops help though and once and a while he'll be caught nibbling his lip as he looks at their stomach. Gabe is very much perceived by Jett, no matter what the shirt says.

He follows their lead across the street, eyes flashing to the taco place, "Oooh that place smells good." He has been down for trying every food place they've come across and this one will be no different; he'll probably get some tacos on the way out. But it's up to the second floor and he has to put tacos out of his mind for the ordeal of hair appointments. The whole place doesn't read as a barber and it's more likely than not that he would have been like 'oop' wrong place if he had come here himself. Even so, he is aware of how it could be comforting to be here for Gabe and if this was the salon, well then, Jett isn't going to protest as Gabe's hair is amazing.

The brunette is regarded as she shouts and comes right over for a hug. Jett says under his breath, "Your detachment don't give AF mask is crummmblin." He winks and makes room so that the pixie cut lady can hug Gabe, and it's the hugging why Jett said what he said. "Yes," he says to the woman as she looks over him, "Happily I note you don't have any rose bushes here." A little impish grin over toward Gabe before he tilts his head at being told about being all day, "I knew I should've gotten the tacos." Lament. Then he rocks back on his heels, "But if you're the one that did Gabe's hair, then it'll be worth it."

Okay so there should be a little asterisk on Gabe's shirt that adds the fine print of: except Jett. He's the only one with clearance to perceive. Their face hold onto that wealth of amusement at his air pinch and they nod at the taco place. "We'll hit it up after." Both of them will most likely be starved after hours of sitting around waiting for bleach to process.

As for the detachment mask, yeah no Jett's 100% right about that one. Gabriel's smiling from ear to ear throughout the hug though they send a LOOK over the stylist's shoulder at Jett. They stick their tongue out at him like nyah shut it, playful as ever, then step back to let her look over Jett. "You underestimate my power to find some," Gabe tells Jett with a dry smirk.

"I am," the stylist grins at Jett. "I'm Meg, nice to meet you. Gabe's been coming here since college until they moved. Super bummed cause they were my best client." She turns to them and winks, "ya suck! But I won't let that get in the way of turning this hottie over here blonde as hell."

"Stop flirting with my boyfriend Meg," Gabe deadpans though one side of their face curves up in a lopsided smile, teasing. She waves them off, then gestures for Jett to follow her over to her station a few feet away. There's a nice chair for him to sit in and a charger for his phone and everything.

Jett gnashes his teeth in a displayed bite when Gabe sticks out their tongue at him, erasing that look from his face when the hug departs them and showing a casual smile to the hair stylist, although, that dry smirk is noted from Gabe with a huffed laugh. It definitely had some undertones of 'I'd like to see you try!' to it.

Now that he's got a name to the stylist he listens to the tip that Gabe's been coming here since college, "Oh so you have some good tea on them then," Jett casually slips in and loves that he's meeting another person with some background intel on Gabe. Then he's called a hottie? Jett totally has that 'blink blink' innocent looking expression on his face as if this was really weird for him to hear and there's no way he believes it! Only Gabe's deadpan makes him smile and note back to them, "You don't flirt enough with me anymore. Footsies at your mum's table doesn't count," he boldly proclaims as he's guided over toward a station and plops into it.

"Oh I have SO MUCH TEA. How much do you know already? How much do you want to know?" Meg looks goddamn thrilled that Jett's into gossip, fully ignoring the face she's getting from poor Gabe who is about to go through Round 2. Between Gail and Meg, there will be zero secrets left for Jett to uncover.

Gabriel's about to tell both of them off re: gossip when Jett levels that you don't flirt enough with me anymore at them. "Excuse me what?" Their jaw drops open as they follow after them to the station. Both hands fly to their hips as they take on the sassy stance. "Why doesn't footsie count? That's literally flirting. What do you want from me, PDA at my mother's dinner table?! Tongue down your throat between meals?"

"Oh my god, diva much?" Meg giggles at Gabe from behind a large book that holds about a gazillion little swatches of hair color. There's an entire page of blonde. Who would have thought. She holds it open for Jett so he can pick an exact shade and also levels another kind of shade too. "Did you know that Gabe only went full bleach for a girl? What was her name? Kat? Katie? They wanted her to notice them. Before then they were BRUNETTE, like emo brunette! Which was a whole choice but who am I to judge? I'm just glad they decided to go back to blonde."

"Meg, I have a feeling we're going to be such good friends after this," Jett says after Meg's thrill over being asked about gossip! Jett is absolutely enjoying this and side glances to regard Gabe's expression as yep, round 2 is totally going to start here. He's deadass enjoying every minute of this experience, already! And it hasn't even begun. But of course it's all in the name of getting to know all of who Gabe is through the eyes of those who love them most.

Jett does his classic 'sharp higher end' laugh at their reaction to his tease and their sassy stance has his chin tilting back and face pointed up and the whole thing as he laughs. It's a cute moment. He regains his composure enough to impishly look over at Gabe and full on smile at them in that hazy sort of 'I'm so over the fucking moon for you way.' Then simply he notes, "You're fucking adorable. But yes, I'll take a tongue down my throat between meals. I think that's called a palate cleanser or something bougie like that."

The gazillion swatches is color overload for Jett. He ushers Gabe over and whines, "Help me pick something." Poor man is a bleach and blonde virgin. Then his eyes widen a little at being told that Gabe went bleach for a girl, "A Katie? Seriously? I expected more Gabe," he chuckles a little and then wonders openly to Meg, "Did Katie notice them?" And then a brunette, "SHIT. I missed the emo brunette stage?" He tilts his head as if trying to picture Gabe as a brunette, "That'd be hot too. I would love to see that. Pic or it didn't happen!"

"Yes, yes we are. I'll give you my number so you can text me updates on Gabe and I can share the real juicy stuff," Meg leans a little closer to Jett to stage whisper. It's not actually quiet enough to be a secret, like she wants Gabe to know just how she's going over their head there. These two have definitely been friends for over a decade the way she's giving Gabriel so much shit right now.

There shouldn't be any surprise when Gabe subsequently snaps out, "I heard that." But there's still sassy stance going on and they're staring at Jett for a response to their defense. Which is...a laugh that's too goddamn precious to stay mad at (and Jett probably knows that). "Yeah fuck off," they murmur as they fight to keep a burgeoning smile from taking over. It's kind of dumb how weak they get for Jett's full smile but here's the proof. Sassy stance broken. They slide into the empty station next to Jett's and straight up lean a long leg out to kick his shoe. "I'm sure you'd love a palate cleanser you little shit." Guess what. That's flirting right there. The kicking and the cursing and the acting put out when they're besotted.

Meg sees it clear as day and sighs, shaking her head at the antics between the two of them. "God I hate being single." ANYWAY. The book. "Lemme see, lemme see. Probably something between here and here...with some real thin lowlights." She points to some swatches.

Gabe groans as they get up from their seat to come help. There's a nod at Meg's choices, then an immediate scowl at Jett's Katie comment. "What do you have against Katie's? And-- don't answer that Meg. Those picks look good though. Close to what you gave me."

Meg stares at Gabe for a second, then looks over at Jett and grins. Her expression screams: that's a no. Especially with how Gabe's so quick to shut it down. SNAP the book gets closed quickly and put away, then she tugs Jett up off the chair. "Hottie you ever see how bleach gets mixed? Want to? Gabe sit your ass down, your turn will come next. I see those goddamn roots." There's an undercurrent here, as if the watching bleach part is a ruse to show Jett pics that Gabe will surely try to intervene against.

Phone is unlocked, contacts flicked too, opened up and boom, he moves it toward Meg so that she can enter her contacts into his phone. Stage whisper or not this girl has some deets on Gabe that might be useful in the future, like, when he wants to plan to be romantic or some shit.

"Only to you," Jett responds to Gabe's fuck off murmur with swiftness and confidence that it's undoubtedly truth mixed in with a minxy tease. The kick to his shoe and the Gabe flirting is exactly what he lives for, his grin staying wide infectiously. "Yes, you're right. I do. One palate cleanser please." He makes a kissy kiss sound in the air, lips getting all puckered up before he tries to be somewhat serious about the nature of the color coding he's going to get today.

"Gabe's my first like legit relationship," he informs as if she couldn't probably tell anyway, "I was a mess before them." He looks at the color swatches, and they probably all look like the same blonde to him anyway - like how he is he supposed to figure out which one would look better than the next? So instead he notes, "I like crushed on them first time I saw them. Gabe, was all in white. I was all in black. It was like straight out of some booktok shit you know." He notes, "I didn't really have a clue."

He chuckles at the 'what do you have against Katies' remark and notes, "Well.. the name sounds kind of boring. Was she boring? Girl next door vibe and all that? I suppose there is that pop singer that's name Katie though." He shrugs, "Just not the crowd I thought you would be in with. I was like envisioning Maeve or like Amelia." Or Meg. But he doesn't say that part out loud.

With the colors picked out and the 'SNAP' he looks toward Meg's reflection before he's tugged up off the chair. He goes willingly. "Uh no, actually. I've never been in a salon before either..." he really hasn't! If anything he chopped his hair by his own hand, which she'll be able to tell from the haphazard drippy look he has going on right now. He smirks back over toward Gabe, noting, "We have time I guess! Gt yours done too." As if that wasn't already part of the plan!

Meg giggles as she crowds Jett's phone and quickly inputs her number before Gabe realizes what's going on. She's bonded to Jett now. This is the start of a beautiful friendship. Much to Gabriel's chagrin.

At this point Jett has Gabe in his proverbial pocket with all those grins. They take all the sass easily, grumbling, but easily. They rolled over for him that very first night they spent together so Jett can get away with murder all he likes. "Go away," comes the deadpan to all the kissy noises made into the air.

Meg laughs and waggles her brows. "I do love booktok shit," she singsongs as Jett regales her with DEETS. "That's the cutest thing I've ever goddamn heard. Gabe, are you listening? Your man is locked in."

Yes, Gabe is listening. Gabe's also blushing like a motherfucker right now. "I crushed on him the moment I saw him too," they admit in a mumbly sort of murmur. But then Jett brings up Katie and they quickly wave their hands around. "We're not talking about Katie, holy fuck. That's like ten year old news."

"I gotchu," Meg whispers at Jett. They just need to get away from GABE right now in order to chat properly. To Gabriel's benefit, they do sit down, grumbling more and with a sourpuss face so sullen one would think they just got in trouble for something. Chances are, they know gossiping is about to happen behind the scenes. "Yeah yeah," they say to Jett. Because yeah, while Jett sits there for 45 min waiting for his bleach, Gabe will get their touch up.

Meg starts laughing the second they're out of earshot from Gabe. "I have never seen them like this before? What did you do to them?!" The back room is really just a long galley sort of area with multiple sinks and cabinets full of hair products. She gets to work by pulling out a plastic bowl and a brush and tubes of bleach and toner. "Okay so, KATIE," she starts excitedly as she mixes pungent chemicals around in the bowl, "she was like some art major, real punky, like you said. Maeve vibes. And she was older or something, I can't remember, but Gabe saw her flirting with some blonde or something and runs in here like I need to be blonde right now. So we did it and they went to some party where she was and of course, Katie's there making out with the other blonde. Tragic. Real villain origin story shit. But everyone said Gabe looked hot as fuck all platinum-- I mean I said it too but who wants to trust their stylist right?! No goddamn respect. And so they kept it. And eventually Katie graduated and Gabe never saw her again. I think Gabe was like...19? 20? A kid. Kids do dumb shit for people they like sometimes."

A bubble of laughter bursts up again when Gabe deadpans to go away. That was the most romantic thing ever! Jett was like 'AWWWW' you DO LOVE ME - but not in words, simply in a gushing look that says it all. The love language between the pair is definitely a lot of unspoken language.

"Locked in." He repeats with assurances that he was and a little finger gun action. Pow pow. That Gabe is blushing so hard right now is so fucking endearing. Their admission has Jett beaming. FUCKING BEAMING. He is loving this, even if he has to abandon them momentarily to go get the real scoop from Meg around the corner.

Once out of earshot he's asked what did he do. Then he rolls a shoulder and holds up his hand; RING exposed. He puts his finger to his lips to motion to keep that on the down low before he answers, "It happened like... I don't know, like magic. One day we didn't know each other and the next we were like all in. I can't explain it but like," he sighs with a look over his shoulder back toward where Gabe is left all sullen and sulky, "They're the best thing in my life you know?" He pivots a look back to Meg, then he nods with a sudden grin, "Yeah. KATIE. Who is this bish. Tell me." As if he's suddenly worried what old news Katie has that he doesn't. He is super unsurprised by the 'punky art major' piece about Katie - probably called it with the Maeve vibes. OLDER. He leans in, nodding along. He winces when Katie is making out with the other blonde. "Well that worked out for me; villain met villain." He does remember their first conversation about two-face and all that. "They do look hot as fuck, all the damned time..." he admits with that lovestruck wonderment. "Gabe didn't believe you?" He clicks his tongue, animates his responses to her, be it a nod, a shake of his head. He's actively listening. HARD. Gabe was 19 or 20... This was going very well until Meg has to go and say kids to dumb shit for people they like sometimes. He wheezes in jest, "I wouldn't know anything about that."

Gabe sorta wants to die right now what with all the SECRETS BEING REVEALED and how Jett's looking at them and emoting in their silent love language and setting off the blush yet again. They slink down into their chair and hide behind the endless scroll of their phone. They should have known it'd end up this way with Meg and Jett. Those two are almost two peas in a pod. A tiny little smirk appears on their face. Cause of course they secretly love it.

MEANWHILE.

Meg literally gasps SO loud when Jett reveals the ring. "OH MY GOD! Ohmygod, ohmyGOD. For real? Shut up." Jett didn't even say anything. She's known him for 4 seconds and yet she smacks him excitedly on the shoulder. "EEEEEEE I can't believe it holy shit. You little jerk. Okay tell me everything right the fuck now. How did it happen, where, what were they like? Also where did you get that, it's so cute." The ring, she means. All the words rush out of her mouth almost at the same time without there being much need to breathe. She's one of those fast talking New Yorkers you see in movies. The bleach makes a squishy sound as she whisks it together while listening to everything Jett says. "You know what that sounds like, right? Love at first goddamn sight. This is better than booktok, I can't believe it. No wonder they haven't been back in seven months even for a touch up."

Meg dishes about the bish known as Katie, of course, leaving no mystery unsolved. Finally it looks like the bleach is ready when she stops mixing it and grabs an entire box of hair foils. "Villain, huh? That why you were wearing all black when you met? Yeah I can see Gabe being like...that lowkey mastermind doing nefarious shit but seeming normal. Like that guy who created Facebook? Silicon Valley level criminal." Hyper-specific. She cackles as she juts her chin towards the front room and starts walking. "No one ever believes me! I guess they think we all just wanna love our own work? Crazy, I tell ya." Her pace suddenly comes to a dead stop when Jett says he wouldn't know anything about that while wheezing. Her brows shoot up as she looks him over curiously. "Well fuck me, you're 18 aren't you? Hold on, I'm about to go hit Gabe with a goddamn BROOM."

MEANWHILE.

Jett doesn't explain what the ring means exactly because it's been an unspoken agreement to the terms of the ringship. His eyes widen a little and he tries to lowkey tell her to shut up when she reacts to the ring. In a rush he tries to answer: "On their birthday, on a Ferris Wheel with fireworks in the background. I made the rings." As if there was more to the story he adds, "I sort of arranged the whole date. I won them a stuffed kraken at a carnival game, then I got us passed the line up - employee perks - and got them to stop the Ferris Wheel when our gondola was at the top - massive favor but again, perks. And yeah, I made the rings. I make jewelry. I'm trying to go legit with it. It's personal, too, that way." As for what it sounds like, he sort of melts a little, shoulders dropping and becoming shy underneath the declaration of love at first sight. Then he breathes in and accepts it, "Yeah. It kind of was. Soon as I saw Gabe in the outfit they wore, it was a masquerade ball too you know... I just had to know more about them." He shrugs one shoulder up in his shyness about it, "And then we danced later that night. Then we saw each other at the New Years Eve party and I you know.. flirted hard." He chuckles a little, "I took my shot." He laughs, "Well it won't be another seven months next time. I'll have to come back too, now." Since blond is going to suck with his dark hair!

"Yeah, sorta? I borrowed a costume, but I tend to wear all black normally. Gabe is slowly working me toward other colors; opening my mind." He smirks a little, but then sort of loses track of something... because Facebook? But then she's directing with her chin so he follows. "I still need to see a pic of Gabe with brown hair. Send me one sometime." Because the stylists have social media pages, probably, that keep record of that kind of shit. He almost crashes into the back of her, but, again, he's like 19 and has amazing reflexes! "I'll be twenty this year." Because THAT matters.

Meg 110% thinks that ring means engagement, purely off of her reaction. She also doesn't play games with this quieting down or shutting up thing so Jett will just have to deal. "On a Ferris Whell with fireworks in the background, classic booktok holy shit. You're such an angel. How are you even real?!" It doesn't help that Jett said he MADE the rings. That earns him another smack to his shoulder. "Shut the fuck up! Do you have any brothers?"

Cause mama needs a date.

Masquerade ball has her straight up holding up her hands. "BOOKTOK I TELL YA." It's a yell but it's less loud that the chittering over the ring. "I get it. If you've only ever known BLONDE Gabe, then yeah, whole enigmatic bullshit fairy prince-princess depending on their mood. Which...okay they've always been very straightforward but they definitely went inward the older they got." And Jett knows the nuance in all that since Gabe already told him. She cackles again when he mentions flirting hard, "I love it. Gabe so needed this." And then of course the promise of coming back gets her nodding quickly. "Good. Lived in blonde is all the rage right now. They wanna call it recession blonde. But we all know what it really means-- LAZY. You're gonna be back here in three months, I guarantee it." If not for the hair then for the major gossip.

"Of course you wear all black normally," she smirks at him as she gives him a proper once-over. But mentioning that it's his first time in a salon and Gabe's opening him up to other colors, yeah that's not helping his case that he's not 18. "Where's my fucking broom," she mutters before he says he'll be twenty. "Oh yeah? This year like tomorrow or this year like five months from now?" HARDCORE ball busting over here. She shakes her head a little but a smile creeps up her face. Clearly she has THOUGHTS but the whole ~everything~ about the story, knowing Gabe, makes it easier to swallow. "Okay hold this. Just don't get any on your hands." Meg offers over the bowl with the brush in it and whips out her phone to start scrolling through her albums. "Look. I get it. You're a smoking hot little 18-year-old," now she's just giving him shit, "and you make jewelry and you're romantic as a motherfucker. If I were Gabe I'd probably go gaga over you too. But you know them. They had a hard time coming out, like really coming out. And you being married to them eventually is gonna be hard for you too. Like you're gonna have to fend off assholes and idiots who wanna misgender them for fun forever. I just wanna make sure you're up for that? It's a lot, Jett, it really is. Oh, here we go." She turns her phone around to show him a pic of brown haired Gabe with fingerless gloves and a fedora. Big 2009 vibes. "I'm not trying to dissuade you, swear to god, I just wanna make sure you know."

Meg is probably NOT wrong here but as neither of them have specifically talked about the meaning behind the rings it's certainly gone into a silent promise. There was no marry me that happened! So it's just there, on their fingers, worn a quiet promise. Jett hangs his head a little at her LOUDNESS but he does smirk for her reaction to the whole thing he pieced together for Gabe's birthday. As for him being real some would say it's a trauma response to rapidly build a deep relationship with another person but for what it's worth, he probably watched some booktok. The smack to his shoulder a second time has him snorting a little, and he shakes his head, "Sorry. I'm a one and only. No copies out there." Mama gunna have to get her thirst quenched elsewhere.

He snickers at her hands and the booktok reference again. His expression sobers up though when Meg is talking about them and how they went inward the older they got. While Gabe needed this, so did Jett. His mouth works to say something of that nature but stalls out and instead he simply smiles. It was his life to treasure with them and not all the points of their relationship had to go public. "Recession blonde huh?" He wonders, "Like frosted tips?"

"Like well, more like six months? November. No broom is required. There's a number between 20 and 18 that you're forgetting...!" Not that it makes it better but there was still a number there! The thoughts Meg is having is not unlike the thoughts other people may have regarding the whole thing so he gets a little squared up in the shoulder, "I've had enough life experiences already that age is just number, aight?" He is defensive and has every right to be against the ball busting, "Some stupid construct of society anyway. I love who I love." The bowl is put in his hands, timely don so he can focus on the bowl. "19..." he emphasizes again when she mis-ages him as it's SUPER important at his age to be recognized as the age he was, all eager to be grown the fuck up like every other 19 year old racing toward their twenties in a rush to be seen as mature and an accepted adult. Then there's something more profound come about - misgendering Gabe and defending Gabe from assholes. His face lifts up from where it had sunk down to regard the bowl of chemicals, his eyes hardened with determination, "I'm not afraid to do that. Whatever it takes, for as along as it takes. I won't leave them to stand on their own." He validates his feelings for Gabe with an outspoken declaration to Meg, "You bet your ass I'm up for it."

And then the pictures! He almost DROPS the whole damned bowl because it's his turn to drop his jaw and like EEEEEEEEEEE. And he yells over toward Gabe, "OH MY GOD BABY! BROWN HAIR!!" He grins back at Meg, "Please send me that right fucking now."

Mama gonna struggle is what it is. Meg hefts out a heavy sigh but other than her own misfortune, she's here for this secondhand romance.

"No, see, frosted tips were on purpose. Just to look cool in a fucked up way. Letting your roots grow out and calling it style is something entirely different."

She cuts him a really?? look when he corrects her by ADDING A MONTH. "You're not making this better." But she settles down with the abrasiveness (marginally) when Jett's shoulders square up in that little stance change. It actually makes her smile? Like look at this little boy being all defensive about his fiance over here. "Aww. Okay shut up, that's cute. You're right, anyway. Love is love. I just gotta look out for my little nugget, alright? Gabe and I go way back and what's this whole thing for if you don't have at least one person threatening to come after you if you hurt their Enby Anne Heche? Trust me, if you were older you'd love that joke." Doubtful.

Jett's declaration has her looking up at him, just as seriously. Her brown eyes bounce between his, sussing out any possible bullshit and coming up empty. A clever smile appears quickly. Whatever silent test that had just been, he passed it. "Fucking amazing." UNLESS HE DROPS THE BOWL CAUSE THAT'S $100 WORTH OF HAIR PRODUCTS. She immediately shoots off a text with the pic as Jett yells over to Gabe. "Already done."

Gabe in the background-- "The fuck?! MEGAN!"

"For what it's worth," Meg says to Jett, completely ignoring Gabe's shout, "I was riding ya hard for the giggles but Gabe literally doesn't put up with anyone, so the fact that you're here, meeting me, probably after having met Gail...yeah you're a good egg. A tough egg. But like, romantic and thoughtful. So that makes you what, eh? Soft boiled egg? Hard on the outside, gooey on the inside? Yeah. My little soft boiled egg. Go get in the chair, we're gonna make you stop traffic."

A month matters! It's MATH. But it also doesn't help him. Not really. And yet he's prepared to put up with any bullshit that comes of the whole age thing. "Besides, I thought Gabe was like my age when I first saw them," which in itself is a compliment right? Or maybe not. Either way! Jett totally didn't think about age and when that did get discussed he said it didn't matter as much as it didn't matter now. The okay shut up has him relaxing a bit again, especially since Meg calls Gabe her little nugget.

Then he's declared and vocalized his thoughts and his stance. If her bullshit detector was on then there'd be no smell! No sign of it. He thankfully DOESN'T drop the bowl of hair products while looking at the brown haired Gabe. Whether the fucking amazing was at him, for him, or for Gabe, well, Jett takes it to mean about Gabe's brown hair, "Shit yeah, they are fucking amazing. GABE. One day I want you to have brown hair again!" Because it looks good! Though the blonde is peak Gabe and he won't detract them from changing it right now.

Jett glances over at Meg then, brow arched as he's labeled a soft boiled egg. "I'm not sure what to make of that," he mumbles with a wry grin, as he heads over to the chair to get his blonde on. He glances over toward Gabe and smiles whole heartedly at them, "She said I'd be like a traffic sign after this. Are you ready?"

Meg actually snorts when Jett reveals he thought Gabe was his age. "Yeah, that's how I know it was love at first sight. We both use the same eye cream, okay?" It's not like she looks all that old either? Honestly both of them are still pretty young-looking for their respective ages, assuming Meg IS Gabe's age (who knows?)

"No, hottie, you're amazing," she then clarifies her earlier statement. "For looking down the barrel of a probably less than easy future and saying you ain't scared." And for the first time since she started giving him shit, she looks properly proud of him. It's a sort of big sister vibe. Instantly adopted. Instantly judged. Instantly proud.

Gabe in the background-- "FUCK no."

Then they're off towards the styling station. "It's a compliment from me to you, that's what you make of it." A little tease paired with a wink as she puts the bowl down and starts to set up the arduous process about to take place.

Poor Gabe's been left alone with their ears burning this whole time. "A traffic sign?" Now they're confused too.

"Nah, I said he can stop traffic," Meg laughs.

"Oh. Babe that's so different," Gabe smirks. "You're gonna give people whiplash for looking so good. Actually. I take it back. Meg don't make him blonde."

"Too late! I mixed it, he's gonna be hotter than you and you're gonna have to live with that." Meg lets out another cackle, then starts to comb out Jett's hair and partitions it up. A piece of foil gets tucked under the separated strand, then smack smack. On goes the bleach with two heavy swipes of the brush. And now they'll sit here forever, repeating this until Jett's entire head looks like it could pick up radio frequencies with the amount of foil packets folded in it.

"You use eye cream? I would have never guessed that! You could pass for twenty one." He assumes she's older now and is totally milking this for brownie points here. He's got to at least make up for his own age difference and make them feel young looking!

Jett ohs softly at her clarification on who is amazing. Her explanation of an not so easy future has him note, "I've had practice and they're worth any future with." HE IS SUCH A ... romantic somehow! Gabe really brought it out of him.

The fuck no has him tittering again and he shakes his head, "That's a NO right now right? Not a forever kind of no?" Because the brown is kind of fetching on them and he's going to dig that picture for a while! Hat and fingerless gloves!

Jett snorts a little at the clarification of him not being a traffic sign and instead stopping traffic. WHIPLASHING drivers! The commentary has him really settling in like he did at Gabe's parents house, in the presence of Gabe's mom. Like this was some sort of window into the life he should have had but now had the opportunity of having. He wasn't so much watching from the outside anymore - he was part of it.

And being part of it meant suffering all the hours of foil being put into his hair. "So why can't you just do it all at once?" He questions, "Why all the little pieces? Why can't you scrub it in like shampoo?" Such is the outcome of him having a wig of foil.

As the time passes and the process involves rinsing his hair (the finger nail wash is like to die for) and after the toner put in, he's coming out on the other side of five or six hours or... however the fuck long it takes with blonde hair that doesn't look like it's from a box. It's not all corn colored or yellow. It's a nice tone of ombre ash blonde, which doesn't wash him out or make him look sickly. When the last styling touches (since she probably fixed his cut too) is done, he's staring at himself in the mirror as if he cannot quite recognize himself. He for sure could be a model but in his mind he's just like, WOAH. He leans forward and looks this way and that, playing with his hair a touch and trying to work out his 'new' self. It's a bit scary after so long of knowing oneself in the mirror to abruptly change one's image, though it's also fun, even if dramatic.

He looks over toward Gabe and he is one thousand percent seeking their validation on how it's turned out.

Brownie points granted. Jett gets a wide smile for that compliment even if Meg knows he's laying it on thick. She'll accept it wholeheartedly. He doubles down on the not-so-easy future and it just solidifies her soft boiled egg theory. He's a good one.

Gabriel doesn't bother answering his question since their flat look when he comes back out about does it.

But Jett's got QUESTIONS and while Meg opens her mouth to explain, it's Gabe who jumps in since they had no one to talk to forEVER and now they need attention. They swivel around in their chair, facing away from him but leaning their head back to stare at him upside-down. They're already bored of waiting and its been five minutes. "Bleach is a chemical, babe. The longer it's in your hair, the brighter the color cause it's cooking. The reaction keeps going and the heat from your head accelerates it. And longer it's there, the more chance of just like fully burning it off completely. So the bleach in the back is at a lower mix percentage or whatever so it cooks slowly by the time she gets to the top of your head. The stuff at the top is usually strong as fuck and cooks in like five minutes. That way it all comes out the same shade."

"Goddamn Gabe, you wanna do my job for me then?" Meg outright laughs as she tucks in another sheet of foil into Jett's hair. The reason why it takes forever is also because she's using the long stick on the back of the brush to separate every other strand out to give him the lowlights. He wants to look good so she's doing a good job. "They're not wrong though. Also trust me that you don't want bleach directly on your scalp. It'll fuck it up."

While Jett got to sit and bake once all the foil made it to his head, Meg moved onto Gabe to get their roots done. After a certain point they both get to lounge around in capes and tin foil, making kissy faces into the mirrors. But time really does fly when you're having fun (and spending shit tons of money). Gabriel stands at their own mirror, finger combing their longer hair back to examine their fresh as fuck roots. When Jett looks over, they turn to face him. It's so hard not to grin back at him.

"Yeah okay fuck you very much," they laugh. "This is kind of unfair? Christ." Stepping forward into his space, they lean in to press a kiss to his neck. "You look good enough to eat." It's murmured at a closer distance though Meg makes a flat face from where she's standing behind them.

"Alright, we get it, you're both hot. Get the fuck out already."

Hair education 101! It is safe to say that Jett learned enough about cooking one's own hair with bleach not to try it at home or with box dye. He'd probably fuck it up for real if he did. For the most part the questions are answered and he has no follow up 'whys' and takes the information for what it's worth. The important thing is he is fascinated by how much they know about it; "You really have spent a long time in the chair huh?" This to Gabe and then wondering, "Or did you cook your hair off before you met Meg?"

Gabe's fuck you very much has him smirking and looking back into the mirror with uncertainty. One sort of gets used to the color of one's own hair. He plays at it and it lacks feathers! But he still plays at it like it had feathers in it. "I wonder if it'll stay the same," he says over at Gabe not anticipating that Meg will know why he would say that, "Or if it'll bleed out or something." He leans forward to get a better look, twisting, doing some model assed poses without realizing it, pausing when they come into his space. Gabe is more than welcome in his space and he all but practically purrs when Gabe does, wrapping his arm around them as if five hours has been too long without TOUCH. He's a bit clingy sometimes! Especially under the warmth of their praise. "Then call me dinner..." nevermind that his stomach probably growled a few times and his desire for having tacos sooner increased tenfold.

OH YEAH. NOT ALONE.

His eyelashes bat toward Meg, "What you did was magic - they are flirting with me again!" That is his thank you.

He beams back up to Gabe as he gets his phone and stands the hell up, peering back into the mirror for the hundredth time, because MY FUCKING GOD... he's BLONDE.

"I know better than to try to bleach my own hair," Gabe smirks with newfound playfulness sparkling in their blue eyes. "But yeah, I've spent hours and hours and hours here."

Meg has no idea what Jett's talking about there and it shows in a furrow of her brows. She doesn't interrupt that of course, since it must be some kind of inside thing.

"Guess we'll see," Gabriel says as they look over the blonde locks, going as far as dipping their fingertips into them. The way they can't stop staring reveals exactly how they feel about it. It's good. It's real good. There's a huff of laughter at call me dinner before they nuzzle into his cheek, planting a kiss there too. "I think you deserve some tacos for sitting still that whole time." But now it's time to PAY, so they leave Jett to make eyes at Meg while they settle the tab at the front desk.

Without Gabe in hearing range, Meg tosses Jett a smug look. "So I saved your marriage already? God I'm good. Alright give me a hug you hooligan. And don't forget to text me updates, I wanna hear everything." Both hands come up to wave him in.

Jett half closes his eyes when Gabe's fingers run through his hair. While Meg's treatment was fucking awesome, because fingers in one's hair is always a treat, that it was Gabe, the person they love, doing it was like perfection. He like leans into the touch as far as he can without making it painfully obviously that fingers in his hair gets him every time; someone's secretly a golden retriever. "With extra cream..." he forgot the whole word SOUR so like that wasn't as covert as he would've liked but he was full on thinking outside the meal box anyway and it's hard to like shut that off when he's watching their backside retreat away to go deal with payment. It's good that Jett doesn't see the BILL because he might have been like 'TAKE BACK YOUR BLEEACH' ...

His attention pivots to Meg though. He scoffs a little, "Yeah you did." Deadpan EYEROLL. She gets it though and he throws his arms out for a hug. "Are you sure? EVERYTHING can be SPICY." He exhales as he steps back, smiling at Meg, "It's been fun Meg, but I gotta go find my little jalapeno and do a little poppin if you know what I mean." SCANDALOUS WINK.

Everyone and their mother can see how much Jett likes his hair being played with so there's no use in trying to hide it. Meg just rolls her eyes, scoffing even, when that bit about extra cream comes out. "Are you goddamn kidding me." There's still a good deal of humor on her face. She can't help razzing them both.

Gabe only laughs as they walk away, knowing full well that someone is watching them go. There's maybe a little more sashay in their step than usual. Attention seeking behavior at it's finest.

Meg cackles at Jett's deadpan eyeroll because she so knows she's right. He gets a good squeeze while they hug, then she pulls back to squint at him. "Oh god, I do NOT know what you mean but get the hell out before I do. You're awful. I love it. Take care of yourself. You soft boiled eggs gotta stick together."

That's right. Because Gabe's one too. What a plot twist.

"The difference is one of us is peppered and the other is salted," he leaves it up to her to determine what the fuck that means, "Later Meg! Thanks for the fucking lit hair! It looks bangin!" Then he offers a half quirked smile and then pivots on his heels and heads the way of the front desk, after his little sashaying queen who certainly got HIS attention.

Once he finds Gabe, one hand will most certainly slip into their back pocket after cruising over the bare of their back that the crop top affords his finger tips to skim over. His hand in their pocket most certainly tugs them closer to him on their way out.

Two blonde soft boiled eggs - who would've guessed it!

---

THE NEXT DAY

The New York adventure continues. This time it's Gabe's turn to show off, specifically by yoinking Gail's credit card and calling it an early Christmas present. Only children can get away with that shit.

This brings them to SoHo to do a little shopping. And while Gabe loves the fun brands like LOEWE, they might be showing off big time by crowding Jett right through the front door to Versace. Why the fuck not. When In Rome Gail's Credit Card Statement. So after perusing the all-white store with familiar Grecian logo tiled on the floor, Jett gets a whole new outfit. What does Gabe come out with? Nada. But it's fine, there's an AllSaints down the street. The point had been to see Jett in a similar white on white villain outfit as theirs from the ball. Rarely does anyone get to see him in that color.

And boy, he does not disappoint.

"The place I want to take you isn't too far," they start off distractedly. It's not just them, okay? Like three people on the street have fully turned to stare at Jett as they walk past. One just almost collided with a trash bin. "This was the whiplash thing I was worried about...."

Jett isn't actually used to the whole shopping thing; his idea of shopping was primarily through a thrift store since Spellbound didn't have much options. That said, the whole notion of going shopping was a curious idea; maybe in his head he thought it'd be like bigger thrift stores or something. He's been in malls with foster families, but that was a long time ago. Perhaps the closest thing he got to shopping was at the local Target before Spellbound. All his shit, most of his shit, was thrifted and often worn a million times over. The adventure of New York was very eye opening, but it was par for the course to have NEW experiences there.

Jett maybe side eyed the whole credit card thing - cause he totally doesn't have one. Dangerous things to have those! Unlimited money sounded rad too though!

As it was when they got to the SoHo shopping Jett is all like ... why do things look so weird! Where's the racks of clothes? Why is it so fucking minimal?! But too he's kind of awe struck at the designer shop he gets to go into. It's way out of his league and he's surprised he hasn't been thrown out on his ass after a minute of gawking so hard and openly declaring his Versace virginity. Like it's all super impressive and he's never come this close before to designer wear - other than like second hand Gabe clothes!

He had promised to dress up however Gabe wanted him too though - that was Gabe's perk of the day! Jett seriously didn't care much at all and then was surprised to have all white foisted upon him. The clothes aren't difficult to get into, unlike some of the runway extremes. White pants, a gold sort of top underneath a white blazer, white shoes, white sunglasses and a matching shoulder bag. He wasn't so sure about the whole thing until, probably fiddling with it in the mirror and rolling his eyes at his own reflection in the change room. There he was, blonde hair, all in white - did he just get copy-and-pasted as Gabe from the masquerade?

The reveal was a slow gait from the change room in a prowling masculine stride. As he drew toward Gabe his hand pushed up the sunglasses from the bridge of his nose toward his forehead, like some fucking movie star, pushing hair back around the frames of the glasses, before he shouldered the bag and hooked his thumb in the waist of the pants. It's a good thing designer clothes don't have price tags on them! If you need to ask the price after all, you cannot afford it! A little clueless how much it's all going to cost and yet enjoying it as he gives a pivot turn to model the whole thing for Gabe.

Evidently the result of modeling was sufficient enough and he was quick to throw his arm around them after they squared up at the store. "Sure. Is it far? I feel like just the wind blowing will get this outfit dirty..." It was THAT stark white okay. He's not known for wearing white, and all white, at all, any time! He does side eye the person who almost went into the trash bin before looking straight ahead, his cheeks warming, "Yeaaah, I'm not used to this." PEOPLE staring at him. "People did everything in their power to ignore me before Spellbound and..." he glances back, "now they're like tripping over themselves."

He shakes his head as if he doesn't understand it, not that he's not milking it. He's totally milking it. He's making himself puff up a little, he's squaring his shoulders, his stride has become ... suave and commanding, his presence completely wraps around Gabe in whatever way he can - hand holding them, arm looped around them, leaning in close! "You're the only one I want tripping over garbage cans for me," how romantic.

Look if Julia Roberts could do it in Pretty Woman, so can Jett. Contrary to popular belief, Gabe looks like they have money (or access to it) and it doesn't help they're already wearing LOEWE when they walk in. So Jett gets the fancy treatment from the sales associates.

Copypasta Gabe? Yes. That is exactly the theme of today. Call it science or Gabe just really wanting to see the lil goth in a different sort of vibe. The reveal 1000% had them, the two shop ladies, and a rando rich person pausing to STARE-- Gabriel probably moreso. Lots of applause for Jett. Though Gabe's was more of a stunned golf clap.

Outside, Gabe leans into Jett, not seeming to care that the whole thing hasn't been Scotchgarded yet. "It's kind of fucked up, isn't it? How people can go from avoiding you to wanting to jump into your pocket just because of clothes? Blatant consumerism at its finest." Yes, they just said that...while also throwing down thousands of dollars on a whim. Ah, the duality of mankind. They seem to realize this in a way, smirking wickedly as they both walk towards Hudson River park. "I don't trip over garbage cans, babe..." they say as they glance towards the nearest one, fingers finding an ivory belt loop and hooking onto it. "I burn down entire towns for you." That's the difference between a super villain and everyone else.

What's obvious is how much they DO keep staring at him, enough to actually stumble over the uneven sidewalk. Seriously, if Gabe's not careful they'll end up in a garbage bin anyway. "This isn't really fair," they mumble out as amusement sparkles in their blue eyes. With a heavy sigh, they push their free hand through their own blonde locks to lump it over one side of their head. "No one should look this good. It should be illegal." Gabe: master of backhanded compliments.

"Kiss me before I lose my mind please."

Jett has never been so attended to before by sales people - it's kind of overwhelming but he muddles through it even if it's annoying to be asked if the 'sizes' are good or whatever the heck they want to do before his grand reveal!

Said reveal has an effect that Jett is going to soak in - he feels like a damn movie star or something the way the shop ladies, the rando rich person, and Gabe are all sort of slack jawed over him. Applause even?! He gives one of his shy giggle sort of laughs, very short, higher pitched, dolphin-esque.

But outside, he's still trying to manage the whiplash he starts to notice as they walk down the street. "Yeah," he says in a serious tone to Gabe about the measure of a person's clothes, "You can literally fake being important." Though stealing the wardrobe he was wearing would be a difficult feat to do, it's likely someone's tried it or at least counterfeiting (good old Temu orders). He's not even like batting an eye at the fact that he's now become part of the consumerism issue too, simply for letting Gabe buy him this. Just don't tell him the price tag! He'll gag.

But there's important matters at hand - like tripping over garbage cans. His brow inches up as he shoots a side ways glance toward them, a smirk curling up on the corner of his lip as they're snaking a finger into a belt loop and notify him that burning down towns will be the measure instead. "That is fucking romantic," he notes toward them, with a giddy sort of laugh, amused over the idea, "Can you start with Onaway first? Please?" That being where his last name is from, a shit hole place somewhere north in Michigan.

Jett reacts to the stumble with a little tightening of his grip around them, and not without a little mockery after helping to keep them up, "I'll settle with tripping over your own feet." Even if it was uneven sidewalk. The complaint about looking so good has him roll his eyes, "It should be illegal that we look so fucking fire together. You can set fire to the rain baby," he shoots out an Adele quote for the hell of it, and because it FIT okay. And maybe it finally makes sense what the fuck that even means! An in a totally positive way too. MOVING ON.

Kiss request.

There's no way he could possibly IGNORE that. His hand slides across their back and snatches onto their hand, allowing them to step forward before he draws them back toward him, a sort of systematic dance move as one can do it on the side walk of NYC. His hand comes to up their neck just underneath the jawline, fingers on bottom of cheeks and jawline, when he has them dragged in close enough to do so. His eyes are full of impish delight as he leans in and fulfills their wildest dreams - being kissed like that on the streets of NYC. His other arm is for sure grabbing them at the small of the back and keeping them pressed closed. Dress a man like a star and he'll fucking kiss like one. The whiplash is going to happen in SPADES now. He doesn't care, he's all in on Gabe. ALL. IN. A consuming hard heated kiss that is claiming and devoted all at the same time.

Jett has been laughing and smiling SO much during this trip that Gabe can barely stand it. It sinks down deep into their core, nestling in, giving them about 200 more reasons to want to keep him smiling forever and ever and ever. If only that were possible.

When in doubt, raze towns in the name of your beloved. "Onaway it is." A thoughtful look washes over their face as they glance at him, like some idea has just appeared in their mind. It doesn't get verbalized just yet, mostly because mockery comes up quick. "I didn't take you for an Adele fan," they deadpan. "But I guess you like Britney too. I'm going to start writing this down so I can publish an exposé on goth boys being secret queens."

Kiss request acknowledged.

Gabriel steps forward and gets tugged back in that little smooth move that has their heart rate rising almost instantly. Their breathing stills, almost being held entirely as Jett's fingers cup their face. While his eyes are filled with impishness, Gabriel's hold a kind of stubborn playfulness-- like they don't wanna (but they sure do wanna). A little crinkle of their brow denotes impatience mere seconds before Jett's hand lands on the small of their back and their body temperature hikes up a notch. Forward they go, pressed close with an arm folded between them against Jett's chest, fingers curling into his very expensive white shirt. They're surprised by the heat of the kiss once it lands, moreso that they're both giving in to PDA properly rather than Jett being capable. Everyone and their mom knows he's fucking capable.

They part their lips to swipe up a taste of his tongue, his mouth, a tiny noise of barely withheld longing filtering out as it lingers. Gabe's fingers bunch up Jett's shirt in an actual clench. Then the kiss breaks. They barely move back more than an inch. There's a dreamy sort of quality to their gaze which lasts about a second before a giggle, a REAL pitchy squealy teenager goddamn twitterpated giggle erupts out of them. Blue eyes widen in horror as they quickly clap a hand over their mouth.

"Oh my god," comes out filtered from behind their hand. They can't believe the sound they just made. They've actually never done that before?! Cherry blossom pink spreads like wildfire across their cheeks and while it looks like they've got it under control, just glancing back at Blonde Jett has them twee-giggling AGAIN. "Fuckfuckfuck no. Let's go." Gabriel's mortified and now beet red, roughly snatching up Jett's hand with their free one to tug him away and start walking--

Only the instant they turn around, it happens.

Gabriel bumps right into the metal caging around a garbage bin. Was it there the whole time? Why didn't they notice? What the actual fuck is going on with them?! They cut a death glare over their shoulder back at Jett.

"Don't. Say. A. Word."

MOCKERY. How dare! Jett absolutely expects it on a daily from Gabe - it's their love language and he's here for it. He's not disappointed either when Gabe picks out exactly who's music was just used - the line was iconic though so everyone who's everyone should know it since it was blasted a million times on main stream. "Eh, I wouldn't go that far. I know a line or two-" he shrugs aloofly as if to shake off the tarnish of being a secret queen! He does laugh again, unable to keep it down, "Is it really that much of a surprise? We paint our eyes and our nails." THOUGH he did not have black finger nail polish on for this trip, probably because he didn't want to mess up the dress up! Good thing too, the black nails would have clashed with the white and touches of gold.

The kiss.

Total PDA overload.

Any random cam vloggers might catch the heated moment, like something out of a rom-com indeed. It might make them both seem a little more important because who does THAT in the middle of NYC's other than celebs?! (Well I don't really know I'm just speculating!). Either way the whiplash might go doubly hard when Jett is manhandling his person to plant such a much wanted and heated kiss upon their lips. He feels them folding into him, his fingers gripped a little tightly upon the small of their back, while their fingers clutch that thousand dollar or more shirt. He doesn't care a lick about anyone else in that moment but Gabe. Everything since their reaction at the reveal stirred parts of his brain that wouldn't actively calm the fuck down after seeing how they were eyeing him up. The heat expressed in the kiss was very much due in part to his own little brain bubbles happily fizzing dopamine upon every glance Gabe made of him. Maybe he would always dress in white or maybe he'd hope to impress them that way with clothes more often that he'd have to start buying expensive. But like any shaken up soda pop, Jett was bursting at the seams when demanded to kiss Gabe. So here Gabe gets, a kiss that was pent up all day, melding lip to lip, caressing with his tongue, needing with each pressured movement.

When the kiss breaks he's feeling a surge of heat underneath his collar too, his eyes glossy and heated, happiness overwhelming. But it's the GIGGLE that suddenly sends off the sensations all through his own body, like sparks of electrodes attacking his nerve endings as the sound of that giggle vibrates through his very being, imprinting on him. It's a sound that he's never heard from Gabe, pitchy and expressive with it's squealy teenager quality. The fact that their eyes widen with horror sets it deeper into his core memories, recognizing something special has happened in this moment.

The Oh My God sort of seals a smile that breaks over his teeth and narrows his eyes from the rise of his cheeks and overall flood of gushiness that sweeps into all the nooks and crannies. Gabe's face flushing is the literal cherry. "Oh," he breathes out in a wave of sound, a staggering realization of how much love can hurt so good. He's watching them with rapt fascination that another human being can make him feel that. Their giggling is so fucking precious too. He's about to say something to the rush of escapism from the moment when his hand is GRABBED. He jerks forward...

Only to snatch his hand tighter around theirs when Gabe bumps right into the bin, trying to draw them back away from it so they don't actually go ass over tea kettle. The death glare is on point.

So is the threat.

So is his fucking sharp assed SMILE that cuts across his face and impish humor running RAMPANT across his expression.

Then he stage whispers, "You do now."

It's not that much of a surprise that Jett's a secret queen but that fact dissipates quickly.

Because Gabe knows they fucked up. Bad. Blessedly they don't go ass over tea kettle thanks to Jett.

"That was more than one word!" they snap, the blush on their face spreading over the tips of their ears and down the front of their neck. It's likely they've never been this embarrassed in front of him like ever. It's new territory. 100%. And they're completely out of their element even if parts of them are still internally squealing like a 16-year-old over the swoon worthy kiss. Only now they have the freshly added memory of Jett's subsequent 'oh', wholesome as it was, and the goddamn stellar width of his smile. SOMEONE HELP. THIS ISN'T FAIR. They glance away, then back, then away again.

"Ugh," they finally whine as they (pointedly) sidestep the garbage bin and start walking again, giving his hand another yank to get him moving. "Let's just get there yeah?" Gabe fans themself with a hand to try to get the blushing under control. It does absolutely nothing. "We can play the quiet game until then."

Yeah right.

It's only after like ten seconds of huffy walking that it becomes ridiculously obvious that Gabe's fighting a terrible smile. One of those genuine, honest-to-goodness I'm Baby ones. Where they so desperately want to be BIG MAD but they just can't manage it, so the best they can do is just fluff up their proverbial feathers and stomp stomp stomp their way to Pier 26.

"Yeah, that's the point. You told me not to say A word. There was nothing in that clause saying I couldn't say three." Jett reaches out with his spare hand, since the other one is still CLUTCHED, and tries to straighten out Gabe's hair, or pin it behind one of their suddenly red tipped ears. It was new territory for him too - he blushed before but like getting this response from them was something to remember, so he wanted to see that DAMN red ear. Pin pin pin hair behind the air. Touch touch touch to do so.

Jett's head sways happily in a dip like motion as he gets pulled onward, goofy smile on his lips now, and a chipper little "Okay" bleets out. They could be going anywhere right now and he'd be too much on cloud nine to notice. Flight mode activated - if only they were in spellbound. The quiet game has him snort chuckle, while he does a little skip hop step to catch up to Gabe's tugging stride. The quiet game starts. Jett leans his head forward and turns his face to see under that BIG MAD Gabe look, giving them a cheeky monkey expression before he straightens up with another soft sounding laugh and a whimsical exhale, where he breathes out a soul satisfying, "Love you."

He's totally just letting Gabe get their stomps in, not necessarily knowing where they're going to end up leading them both to.

So much for the quiet game.

"You're such a brat," Gabriel half-scoffs, half-laughs. They're still a mess but with Jett tucking their hair back behind an ear, they can't defend being as brassy as they were moments ago. Look at it. The red ear. It's right there. And now of course Jett's gonna get another glare for his trouble.

Except now he's in their face. The face that looks like >:[. That cheekiness cracks it a bit.

"Go away," they deadpan to his love you. Thought a second later a mumble comes out, "Love you too." Gabe can't not say it back. And for what it's worth, Jett allowing them to stomp actually helps expel some of that mortified energy. The blush remains for a good while but the tension in their shoulders melts until they're able to chill the fuck out. Fifteen or so minutes later, they get there.

The Pier 26 tide deck is a rather neat space, extending over the tide pools of the Hudson River in a large 'V' that allows for nature viewing. The park around it sports lots of benches for river watching and patio swings for gettin' cozy. There's a smattering of tourists milling about and taking pictures, but otherwise it's a quiet afternoon.

Gabriel walks out to the very edge of the tide deck and stops to lean against the railing. "We made it." There's a lot to say about this space but they decide to give Jett some quiet time to look around and absorb the gentle sound of the river along with the great skyline of New Jersey across the water.

"I know," Jett easily claims that title as if it were a damnable trophy and he's raising it high in the sky right now. The coloring of blush all over them is something to admire. Even when his own cheekiness has to come up against the MAD face.

Their deadpan go away is pretty much on par with hearing 'love you too' but the latter sentiment is validating all the same. For the moment though he's simply savoring it and mostly them. Their walk beside him, stompy as it may be, and their cracking expression, the slight smile that tries to work itself back out despite the squeals of swoon earlier that sent them into this >:[ face. He may bump their shoulder for brief reassurances during the fifteen minute quiet game and otherwise doesn't keep them from reclaiming their chill.

Jett's eyes flicker to the stairs and the rails. Oh the grinds he could do on those! At first anyway and he might have lamented that he didn't have his skateboard if this wasn't so obvious a tourist spot and something of a scenic highlight. He goes along with it because it was one of Gabe's favorite places, or at least, one of the spots they thought he should see. He follows to the edge of the deck and puts his hands on the railing, looking down over into the water to see if he could see any fish down below. Then he pivots so the small of his back is against the railing, hands repositioning to hang onto the railing as he looks back toward the city. "I see why you like it," besides the fact that it's artsy AF.

Gabe bumps shoulders back, of course, they can't leave that hanging either. Plus it adds a little tactile comfort during the walk.

Overall, yeah, this space is a spot of green in a sea of nearby concrete. The city had been making an effort to create more parks and it has paid off both here and on The High Line by Chelsea. Trees and local fauna dot the area and compliment the benches and structures made entirely of wood.

Gabe slides along the railing, still facing the water, closer to Jett until their shoulders touch. A lopsided smirk curves up their face. "Shut up, no you don't. Just wait until the sun goes down." It's late afternoon so that shouldn't take more than half an hour probably. Their blue eyes scan the buildings across the river as they let out a soft sigh. "In the past few years this kinda became my go-to for clearing my head. One of the warehouses I used to paint at is down the street that way," they point off to the left. "A year or two ago I started getting bad panic attacks? Standing here with my eyes closed and just listening to the water on the rocks helped a lot. And then when all the lights turn on at night...yeah."

They're quiet for a long moment after, just enjoying the tranquility. After a bit, they hold out their hand, palm up. "Hey. Let me see your ring for a sec."

Jett leans back a smidge with his hands on the railing, small of back braced against the bars, looking toward the square structures and the spot of green. When Gabe slides closer, Jett glances over, his hair doing a little fly away shit with the breeze that comes off the water. His eyes roll some against the shut up and just wait, and yet he doesn't fight that he will just wait and do what he is told. His eyes continue to scan the place and watch the activity be it a smattering of tourists or some signs of life, like birds, which are happy to have a speck of green back.

The soft sigh draws his attention back, turning his head toward them, chin basically on his shoulder as his hands are exchanged for elbows as he props himself up more casually against the railing, settling in for a story kind of deal and making sure to be at that intimate range of hearing. His attention flicks only away to follow the point toward the warehouse in question; to this day Jett hasn't pushed about Gabe's past outside of what Gabe's already told him. He's content to let the past stay in the past, where his own is too. And while he's young he still understands the eventual need to speak openly of it, or memories of that particular moment. He's attentively hearing Gabe out when they open up about needing this spot. Sympathy and understanding shows for the panic attacks, identifying with that in his own way, and while he doesn't interject words so much to express it, macro gestures such as his fingers wiggling out to grab a stitch of their clothing, or an understanding in his eyes says enough. He's there for Gabe.

After the story, with implication of night lights, he finally does push off the railing only to roll back the other way and sling and arm around them, dropping his chin to their shoulder. The request to see his ring is met with an extension of his hand, showing them he's still wearing it. Their gesture has him arch an eyebrow, "Off?" He questions as he rolls back away from them just to give himself space to take it off without it threatening to go over the railing. Unlike at Spellbound he doesn't have any pull with metals here. He works it off his finger, where it's obvious the band has stayed since he put it on as there's some tarnish on his finger.

Jett shines in moments like these, showing off a level of maturity that Gabe rarely even sees in people their own age. Sure he can be just as crass and snarky as they are, but the quiet liminal spaces is where he speaks the most. That silent language of theirs, written in invisible encyclopedias of meaningful looks or movements of their fingers or grasps at clothing. Gabriel nods just a little, a wordless thanks, and leans in more snugly when Jett drapes an arm over them.

"Yeah," they say in reply to his off question, waiting until he hands over the ring to turn it around thoughtfully in their slender fingers. Examining it in earnest maybe for the first time since it made its appearance. Their eyes remain locked on it for a lingering moment, then they slip out from under his embrace.

"I..." they start off slowly, meeting his gaze, "know we haven’t talked about what actually happened three months ago but…seeing you this week, looking at you now, all in white…I...think I’d like to do things the right way?” They swallow, hard, and glance back at the river's edge, then over at the meandering tourists. It’s slightly more public than they would have wanted but nothing’s about to get in the way now. Not after that tantrum a bit ago. Gabe’s eyes turn back to Jett, burning with vulnerability all of the sudden. Slowly, they start to move downwards, onto one knee. In front of goddamn everyone.

“I want to give you my last name…if you want it.” They hold up his ring, offering it back with real purpose this time. “You should be part of a family that loves you. Have a name that’s worthy of you. That you deserve. Not something someone just threw at a piece of paper. I want to be with you forever…until my roots grow out for real, when I’m two hundred years older than you and you still look fly as fuck on a skateboard and I’ve got a cane or whatever…” A little laugh burbles up. Even though there’s a bit of silliness, Gabe’s eyes are quickly glossing over and welling up in the corners. “You see me like no one else ever has. You did from day one. I think that means something important. Something big. And I don’t really plan on letting you go. So. Yeah. Be my emergency contact? The beneficiary to the life insurance I don’t have yet? Marry me, Jett.”

Jett manages to get a little support squeeze or rub into Gabe before they slip away from him. He's not exactly sure what taking the ring off meant in this time and place. In fact he rubs the emptiness of his ring finger in a sort of self-conscious sort of way. He made the rings before any sort of conversation was had about them. On their birthday he gave them the ring, but, with no verbal explanation behind the meaning. He had just shared the ring with Gabe's hair stylist and thankfully Gail hadn't taken notice or pretended not too. Still he had not defined it, he had not put words to it, and mostly because he didn't know how to. He was like a raven bringing back a shiny trinket and hoping the nest mate enjoyed it, and considering Gabe never took it off he had hoped for the best.

The way Gabe starts though has a few alarm bells going off in his brain. He's trauma prone and reading things completely half empty rather than half full. In an instant he is steeling himself for ... what, a breakup? A rejection? Absolutely. Abandonment. It's not necessarily seen in a dramatic way other than a quiet rigidness that has frozen him in place. Even as Gabe says I'd like to do things the right way.. it all is twisting into some form of gut wrenching, stomach dropping, soul sinking plummeting. Gabe's nervousness only seems to harken disaster. It's a good thing his one hand is still on the railing or otherwise me might just let his legs buckle with the abrupt weight of the moment.

Perception is everything.

So when Gabe is on one knee... Jett's fucking knuckles have turned white from squeezing the railing as hard as he can and his overthinking trauma brained self is like stuck in a feral moment of inner turmoil and panic at the smallest hint of ... rejection.

It was never rejection.

He remains sort of frozen there with every muscle contracted and responsive to survival mode. It takes a whole hell of a lot of those words to crack back through his defensive armor. One second ready to be told off and the next he's having their beautiful self on one knee saying something about canes and skateboard and ... being worthy of a name, a real name. A sharp breath is taken in as his brain catches up and lungs remember to work. Again, it's a good thing he's holding onto the railing. Their laugh, the way they're looking at him, and their declaration of not wanting to let him go. The abrupt release of that toxic mindset from survival mode is like weaning off an addictive drug; it's not pleasant not ultimately makes a body feel wrong. And yet, everything about Gabe is so right. Ultimately the body will release the toxins, all humans can do it through emotion and if not, through physical responses such as the way Jett starts trembling, a hand going to his own mouth because he's trying really fucking hard not to CRY IN PUBLIC. His eyes squeeze shut as some of those guttural sounds of kicking off natural trauma formed instincts are muffled against his hand.

But also with the hand covering his mouth and a moment later of his eyes opening, he's nodding. Weak noises spill out before he says around his hand when he can drop it for a moment, "Gabe," his smile is like joyful and riddled with relief, panting out a soft agreement that cracks with so much emotion, "Yeah, I will."

Jett's trembling.

Is that good?

Or is that super bad?

Is he happy shocked?

Or aaaaaa overloaded??

Were these just meant as cutesy promise rings and nothing more???

Ohthankfuckinggod. Gabe's been down here, holding out this ring like Hamlet during a Shakespeare in the Park rehearsal waiting for a reaction for what feels like eons, doing no more than watch Jett death grip that poor railing. At some point during the squeezing shut of his eyes and that guttural noise, they realize this is actually a positive response. After all, they have seen this man cry like two hundred times. Crying is actually very very reassuring. It's the backing away fight or flight shit that triggers their own trauma response.

This is not that. And as soon as it clicks, tears start rolling down their cheeks. Guess who IS okay with crying in public?

An effusive smile wobbles up and down as they try to hold back the strongest wave of pure happiness seconds from hitting. "Can...can you please take this goddamn ring back and put it on before I die down here?"

Yeah if they weren't meant for each other, no one was.

The scene is probably garnering outside attention. Two beautiful people and one down on their knee? The other with a hand over their mouth and nodding?! Well obviously someone said YES... even if it's barely muffled out so that Gabe's ears only can hear it.

Jett steps forward after a sucked in sob sound, because crying in public is literally the worst for this man's image, but what does he care!! Gabe is the one that will have to deal with it and any public backlash. Ha. Otherwise he'll never see any of these onlookers himself. He puts his hand out for Gabe because, baby, you gotta put a ring on it for real! Besides, with all that trembling going on the likelihood of losing the damn ring to the water below has severely climbed.

There's applause from those around who witnessed the proposal. Both of them are going to die.

Despite any outside noise, Jett can only focus on Gabe, his hand helping them up after the ring is secured back in place. He eagerly needs a hug and some other physical reassurances, and also to give that in kind.

This is like a tourist's DREAM. Visit New York, witness some romantic shit by the river, take thousands of photos and videos and tag them with #couplegoals. Gabe would normally recoil at the thought but right now, there are no thoughts: only Jett.

That little extension of his hand has Gabriel's smile bursting ten times wider. He's SUCH a queen but goddamn do they love him for it. Get that ring, boy. Even if...you already had it and made it yourself. They bite down on the corner of their lip as they slide the ring back onto its rightful place, snug over the tarnished bit that reflects loyalty more than mere words can. And because they've never ever done anything like this before in their whole life, they kinda stare at the ring on his hand like they've never actually seen it before? Because they just put it there. It's a strange little trip up of of their brain, but they're quick to grab his hand and rise up again.

Right in time for applause. It sounds more like fuzzy static in their ears, given the severe case of tunnel vision they have right now. While Jett's still trembling, for once Gabe is rock solid. Calm. They've got him. They're not letting him go.

They're also not leaving this spot without more PDA either (sorry Midwestern Mom with Toddler, turn away now). Gabe's hand is the first to reach forward and push up into that blonde hair of his that they've been dying to just go full grabby hands at. Their fingers lace up into the featherless strands, immediately missing their texture but enjoying the moment all the same. Then comes the crowding of his space, the lean, the press of their mouth against his that's neither soft nor too hard-- somewhere in the middle. Just like the first time after that night of tequila.

There will be even more photos of this moment but at least people will offer to buy them dinner after this. Worth it for a surprise engagement. Even if they've sorta maybe been engaged for months now.

Somewhere, Meg has just gotten her wings.