There's a time when it would have been calculated, when the apologetic smile Jeremy shoots up at the taller man would have looked exactly the same but meant nothing, when he'd be walking away with a wallet.
But not now, not in a few years. He inspects the bottle of wine for cracks, running his fingers over it hunting moisture, but it seems intact. Good. He'd hate to be owing someone something when he hasn't even been here 24 hours. Well, aside from owing Metody the clothes.
He flicks a casual glance over the bottle before rewrapping it in the tissue paper it had come in and putting it back in one of the bags.
"You can make cake with this," he says offhandedly-- oh, there's his phone, he scoops that up too. The question makes him dart a quick, vulnerable glance at the other man.
No, he's not okay. He's been abducted from his bed and dropped into a mystery city and his best friend's not here, his best friend is probably getting shoved against a wall by Heung's thugs, and that is all partly Jeremy's fault that it's happening, and maybe Charlie even thinks he bailed on him, maybe Charlie thinks that Jeremy skipped town in the middle of the night and let him take the fall for the money.
He is definitely not okay.
But he finds a quick smile, plasters it on with a shrug. "Walking and talking and it looks like I kneel easier than you, pops," he says, no edge to his words, but testing where the line is. The guy's probably no older than he is. Well. It's kinda hard to pin an exact age. But still.
no subject
But not now, not in a few years. He inspects the bottle of wine for cracks, running his fingers over it hunting moisture, but it seems intact. Good. He'd hate to be owing someone something when he hasn't even been here 24 hours. Well, aside from owing Metody the clothes.
He flicks a casual glance over the bottle before rewrapping it in the tissue paper it had come in and putting it back in one of the bags.
"You can make cake with this," he says offhandedly-- oh, there's his phone, he scoops that up too. The question makes him dart a quick, vulnerable glance at the other man.
No, he's not okay. He's been abducted from his bed and dropped into a mystery city and his best friend's not here, his best friend is probably getting shoved against a wall by Heung's thugs, and that is all partly Jeremy's fault that it's happening, and maybe Charlie even thinks he bailed on him, maybe Charlie thinks that Jeremy skipped town in the middle of the night and let him take the fall for the money.
He is definitely not okay.
But he finds a quick smile, plasters it on with a shrug. "Walking and talking and it looks like I kneel easier than you, pops," he says, no edge to his words, but testing where the line is. The guy's probably no older than he is. Well. It's kinda hard to pin an exact age. But still.