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At least conscientious enough to text from the ground floor to minimize ominous anxiety, Jack is, true to his word, upstairs quickly. He knocks, the touch light.
And she opens the door and leans on the doorframe. "So what has Devan done now?"
"Uh- actually," Jack admits, with a flat grin, "-nothing. This time, I'm the one messed things up. Is it okay if I come in?" He looks concerned, and he's shit at hiding it.
She nods, stepping aside to let him into her apartment. It's a little messier more lived-in than the last visit, with dirty laundry in a corner of the living room, f'rex. "Alright, so what is going on?"
Jack steps inside and shows absolutely zero concern for the mess. "Ah... well, short answer, I found out I'm a pretty shit boyfriend. Or, remembered. I haven't been one for a while and apparently time has not improved my talents." He shoves a hand back through his hair, sighing hard. "Ah- so... I should have talked to my Others before I went and asked someone to get involved with me. Open communication is a super important part of making a polycule work, and I got so used to just- having nobody to be accountable to, that it didn't even occur to me." His eyes flick away a moment, then back. He's working hard to be transparent as he can be without putting anything on her.
"Ah." She nods her understanding, but is quiet beyond that. Processing...
"So." He turns more fully towards her. "I need to apologize. It was thoughtless of me, and unfair to you, to ask you out without talking to everyone else. You're awesome, Jane. You don't deserve to have people jerking you around. But that means I need to be straightforward that what I need to be is friends. Good ones is fine, but friends. If you're not too mad at me dropping the ball for that." His hand shoves through his hair again. "... you can... probably kinda see why I said I'd feel better if I was in slugging range in case you felt the need now."
"Were...we actually at the point of being more than friends? Sorry, I haven't exactly done this much, dunno if you can tell. Like. Yeah, I fell asleep on you, but was that actually...I mean, not that I'm going to ask you for that again, you're clearly setting a boundary here, but is that how that works? We slept together in the literal sense and were thus 'involved'?" She seems more confused about the semantics than actually angry.
A relieved laugh coughs out and Jack shakes his head. "Technically? No. We didn't do anything I wouldn't do again even if we were still friends. But we talked about you being asked out, and I said I was asking you out, and I shouldn't've. Honestly, it's more an emotional boundary that's been set ahead of where we are. Pretty much means we go back to fistbumps instead of holding hands, and any long meaningful glances should probably be followed by snickers and uproarious laughter."
"I just didn't feel it was appropriate to not at least talk about it. It'd suck to be expecting one thing and get another."
"Oh. I mean, yeah, that doesn't sound like a problem to me. Okay." She nods slowly. "I mean. Yeah, that's disappointing. But also, like. We weren't a Big Romantic Sex-Having Thing, so...I'm trying to figure out how to say 'no big deal' in a way that doesn't...minimize your awesomeness?"
"I like "no big deal, being friends is fuckin' baller anyhow,"" Jack offers with a more relaxed grin.
"'Baller'? Is that what the kids use these days?" She laughs.
"Man, I dunno, ask Glitch, he's more in tune than I am!" Jack takes a long breath and huffs it out, then offers Jane his fist. "Thanks for being an awesome friend."
She bumps that fist, grinning. "And thank you for being committed to honesty with me. I'll stop updating you on who's asking me for snuggles."
"I mean." Jack grins and threads his fingers behind his head. "I'm a slut for gossip. Feel free to brag about snuggle conquests all you like."
"I think I nearly made Michael's head explode when I told him I don't fuck. But he's cozy, even if it wasn't a full snuggle; we were in a coffee shop."
Jack comes close to sputtering aloud, but diverts into open laughter as he tries to imagine explaining asexuality to an active Spring, clapping a hand to his forehead. "OHHHHBOI, I fuccn BET he popped! Aw man, to be a fly on the wall for THAT reaction!" His phone chimes, and he pulls it from his pocket. Is it an alarm he set to give him an excuse to step out in case things went badly? It absolutely is, but it also makes a pretty damn decent segue, too. "I gotta get moving- I got a lot to get done before I earn the privilege of a few Zs- but seriously, keep me appraised. I'm not goin' anywhere. I'll catch you later, Jane, okay?"
"Yeah. Be good out there...or if you can't be good, don't be caught." She sticks her tongue out at him.
He grins wide and winks. "That'll be the day~ stay safe and keep in touch. G'night!"
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