IC INBOX

[enveloped]

—

10:55 am

CODE BY

Comments

[bardish]

Wait, so you do want tortillas and guacamole now? Because I'm getting --

[ JEFF, STOP BEFORE CAM DECIDES TO EAT YOU INSTEAD. ]

Okay okay nevermind, I'm ordering the tacos now!

[enveloped]

Thank you. I should be there by seven. I’m just finishing up at the gym.

[Yes he’s been working out for most of this conversation. Thanks Rivertooth.]

Is there anything you need me to pick up on the way?

[bardish]

Oh! You're at the gym! [ CLARITY DAWNS UPON HIM. ] Ohhhh...

That's why you're so cranky right now...

[ Er. ]

I don't need anything. Just you! Have a good workout!!

[enveloped]

I am not cranky!

[The clank of something being dropped. AKA someone just let go of the machine they were bent over.]

I love the gym. I am having a good time.

[bardish]

That's the spirit! Positive thinking!

[ IF YOU KEEP SAYING IT, ONE DAY IT WILL BE TRUE!!

That's Jeff Calhoun and his relentless supportiveness for you. ]

[enveloped]

[Cam buries his face into his towel, smothering his frustration.

He loves his boyfriend, he does, but-

Wait, loves him? That’s it. He’s suffered too much emotional stress for one day. A man can only take so much before he snaps.]

Order me a churro.

[bardish]

[ DEMANDING CHURROS IS A STRANGE WAY OF EXPRESSING YOUR LOVE, CAM.]

...you are sending so many mixed signals tonight...

[enveloped]

I'm sorry. I've had a very difficult day.

[Between work, weight loss, and being personally victimized by Jeff Calhoun (who he might love), Cam wants to go home, change into athleisure, stuff a churo into his face and cry into a glass of wine.]

[bardish]

[ Awww, babe. HE'LL ORDER THAT CHURRO FOR YOU. And a sangria-- just in case!-- and pick some tacos that are both healthy and to Cam's taste! ]

Well. I'll do my best to turn it around, then.

[enveloped]

[Jeff is so impossibly sweet. Cam mops his forehead, leaning back against the shoulder press with a sigh.]

You already have.

[A pause.]

I want to see you more than I want to eat tacos.

[And that's saying something.]

[bardish]

That might be the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.

Can't wait to see you.

[ Because, when you get here, he wants to make sure you know JUST HOW MUCH HE LOVES YOU-- your company. Loves your company.

And body.

Please don't feel insecure!! ]

[enveloped]

I'm still waiting for the day you want me more than avocados. That's when I'll know this is serious.

[His mood is getting better the closer he gets to leaving the gym and meeting up with Jeff. He brought a change of clothes with him, comfortable, casual, but in no way slumming. Cam does try for Jeff. He wants Jeff to want to see him.]

Some jackass was hogging my favourite treadmill for an entire hour. Go outside if you want to run a marathon.

[bardish]

Well.

You know that day's already passed, right?

[ HE WANTED YOU MORE THAN AVOCADOS SINCE, LIKE, THEY MADE IT OFFICIAL. ]

Oh man! Was he looking at his phone the whole time, too? That's how it always goes.

[ Since he's at the gym most days, he knows the various Types, okay. ]

[enveloped]

Has it? No one told me.

[Playfully, Cam does love to be coy.]

Of course. He was watching an entire episode of something whilst walking at a snails pace.

I wanted to punch him in the back of the head.

[Less coy. Big mood.]

[bardish]

I'd give up avocados for you. Only I know you wouldn't ever ask me to do that, because you're a good boyfriend.

[ See what he did there? ]

You should go running with me. Then you never have to wait for the machine hogs.

[enveloped]

[Cam sighs. Relaxing. He loves when Jeff calls him his boyfriend. Instant mood lift.]

If you gave up avocados, I would have to give up avocados. That's a lot of unnecessary suffering. Unless you meet a particularly handsome avocado, I can't see myself being that jealous.

[A light laugh. Alright, it's a giggle.]

I thought running was your solo, masculine activity. I didn't know you wanted a running partner.

I would run with you. As long as it isn't too early in the morning.

[bardish]

[ IT'S FINE, HE'S GIGGLING, TOO. Mostly over the handsome avocado. It definitely reminds him of their first, awkward flirtations.

When Cam called him Mr. Avocado. ]

Lifting is my solo, masculine activity! I think you'll find I'm painfully codependent for everything else.

...how early is too early, babe?

[enveloped]

Painfully codependent? How terrible. We should definitely break up now.

[An audible smile in his voice. The joke is they're both painfully codependent. Cam loves to spend time with Jeff, and the longer they're together the more opportunities he finds to be near him. Some men find Cam smothering, but Jeff... seems to be as invested as he is, for once.]

...When do you usually run?

[bardish]

Well, at least we had a good run while it lasted.

[ Just going along with the joke. Really, it's a relief for Jeff, to be with somebody who's on the same page as him for so many things. Yeah, sure, when he was younger, he was all about casual, having his space and independence. But that's not the kind of thing he wants or needs now, with the way his life's going.

He wants a partnership-- a real one-- and Cam seems to want that, too. ]

Five thirty-- [ Thaaaaat probably falls under the umbrella of 'too early.' ] I could push it to six!

[enveloped]

How? I know how late you get to bed.

[Sometimes later than him. Cam tends to fall asleep first.]

What about six thirty?

[bardish]

I dunno-- habit? I just get out of bed whether I want to or not.

[ With Jeff's general sleeping issues, he tends to feel better if he hauls ass out of bed first thing in the morning, anyway. TOTALLY NORMAL. ]

Well... [ WHAT WILL JEFF DO WITH THAT FULL EXTRA HOUR?? ] Six fifteen?

[enveloped]

I suppose I can trying getting ready in fifteen minutes.

[He is not waking up before six am of his own accord. Working, Cam can stay up as long and rise as early as is necessary. Left to his own devices? He's getting his eight hours.]

How tired are you on a day to day basis?

[bardish]

All you've gotta do is put running clothes on. The real getting ready comes after!

[ Jeff has to think for a moment before he shrugs. ]

Normal amounts of tired? I don't need a ton of sleep.

[enveloped]

Easy for you to say.

[Cam isn't a morning person. He takes ten minutes just to get out of bed. He'll have to set everything out the night before.]

I'm not tired. Day to day, I mean. I'm rarely ever tired.

[bardish]

I promise, you look amazing even with bedhead and an ungroomed beard...

[ You don't need to do much before a run, Cam!

Jeff sighs, considering the original question. Like with so many of his issues, Jeff has a tendency to just SHOVE IT TO THE MENTAL BACKBURNER and focus on other things until called out. So... ]

I only really get tired at the end of work. Then I go to the gym and that takes care of it. [ Breaking news: addict in recovery swaps drugs with fitness; doesn't solve the underlying issues. ] It's not pathological to get up at 5 am, Cam! I get more done!