The X-Project

Jay makes a delivery to Tommy's work site. They take a break and talk about their aches and pains, until a statement gets taken the wrong way and they kinda of spook each other.


Jay landed upstairs in the open, roofless house, almost tripping over a two by four in the process. He stumbled to regain his stance, brushing his bangs away from his sweaty face. There was no way to describe how tired he was, flying all over the place to get people what they needed and running messages. Lately, he'd has his fill of flying and adjusting the bag over his shoulder, he walked through the frame of the walls, searching for the stairs. "Nail delivery!" he called out to anyone in particular, if there was anyone here at all. He hoped there was, or he'd have to try to find a spot to leave the nails that wouldn't be lost amongst all the wood. "Hey anyone 'ere?"

Hearing the voice from above, Tommy replaced his hammer on his tool belt and moved towards the stairs. He was the only one nearby at the moment, the others having gone to check out a shipment of drywall that apparently wasn't up to code, while he reinforced the nails in the main joints. As he walked, he took his glove from his belt and replaced it on his hand. "I'm coming." He walked up the stairs and stood at the top, looking over for Jay. "Thanks, but it seems we might not even need these today."

Grabbing the hem of his jeans, Jay ducked through a wall and stepped out into the hallway. He was covered in sweat from going house to house and had tied his shirt to the bag. He felt filthy and in this heat, amonst all the dust in the air, he felt even worse. "Oh, ar' ya sure?" he asked, opening his bag and fishing out the sizes. "Ah gotta few?" One box was pulled out, then another, holding them up helplessly, just incase Tommy changed his mind. He tried to ignore the nagging in the back of his head.

Tommy was down to just a wife beater and jeans, other then his ever present gloves of course which in this case had been replaced with heavy duty work gloves, though he wasn't nearly as sweaty due to staying in the buildings, though he was probably dirtier from that morning when he'd been crawling under the foundations to reinforce them. Seeing the look in Jay's eyes, Tommy's gaze seem to melt slightly and he took the nails from the tired looking mutant. "If we don't need them today we will tomorrow." He paused then asked, " Are you alright?" The other looked completely exhausted. "Do you want some water or something?"

Jay was happy to lighten his load, even if it wasn't that much. It only meant that he didn't have to return to check if they needed them. Pulling out a pencil and a piece of paper, he wrote on it, checking off the house number (or what he thought was the house number) and stuffed it back into the bag. "Yeh," he brushed his hand over his forehead, smoothing back his hair. It only returned to his face. "Water would be nice." He smiled and it felt... genuine. "They just got me flyin' all over God's creation, tha's all. They workin' ya hard 'ere?" it looked like it, bathed in sweat.

Nodding behind Jay to where some lumber was stacked up to be used to build the roof tomorrow, he motioned for the other to sit down. "I'll be right back." He went down to the ground floor where there was cooler with cold bottle water. Grabbing two bottles, he paused over the cooler, wondering for a moment what he was doing. Coming to some decision, he mounted the steps again to return to the winged mutant on the second floor, gladly offering the water bottle before unscrewing the top of his own. "I think they're working us all hard. I guess they feel we offered the help, may as well abuse it." There was a small thread of humor in his voice to deter his words.

Greatfully, Jay plunked himself down on the wood and taking a moment to rub the dirt off his hands, onto his jeans. He sniffed, looking down at the unsuccessful attempt and turned his arm over,looking for a clean patch of skin. He looked down at his jeans and tried to find a clean spot there too. There was none and Tommy returning momentarily distracted him from that. He took the bottle and unscrewed it. "Abuse is tha right word. Ma landin's are gettin' shittier as tha days go on. Ma legs don' wanna hold me up anymore."

He was trying to ignore the unsettling feeling in his gut and the words flight instinct came to mind. He brushed it off but coudln't shake the feeling completely. Taking in some of the water, he swallowed and lifted the bottle over his head. Water sloshed over his face and he sighed as it trickled down his body before he brought it to his lips again to finish it off. Now that his bangs were wet, he ran a hand through them and they stayed back. He smiled, feeling a little more refreshed. "Thanks. Ah needed tha'. Ah'm gonna need a cold shower after this. A long cold shower. After Ah eat a horse..."

"I know the feeling. I'm finding it harder to concentrate. I had to ask them to let me do all the transfiguration that they wanted first thing in the morning when I could still think straight. Of course, that doesn't stop them from putting me to work for the rest of the day either," He replied sympathetically before continuing after taking a gulp of water, "But then, that's what we signed up for right?" Actually, complaining aside, Tommy was enjoying the work, helping people in ways that didn't involve politics.

His eyes followed the water the ran over Jay's head for a moment before he looked down at his feet as he drank his own water. "You and me and I think everyone working here." He said with a small chuckle in his voice.

With the empty bottle in hand, Jay placed his hands on his knees and blew out a sigh. He bent to one side, arching his back, trying to roll out the discomfort in his shoulders. "Guess so. Ah think Ah'm gonna get a massage when this is over. Never had so many knots in ma back from just a few days. Arn't hot bein' in those gloves huh?"

"I can imagine, if they got you flying everywhere. Must be rough on your back." Then Tommy looked down at his hands and shrugged slightly. "You get used to it. At least these are airier then my normal leather ones, but then I guess the bulkiness helps in that regard."

"Ah it ain' jus' from flyin' though. It's from buildin' one roof after another when they don' have me flyin'. Being hunched over ain' exactly good fer tha back. Ah reckon you feel the same?" he asked, rolling his shoulder again and arching it at a different angle. He could feel he was close to something popping and raised his arms, pressing into the stretch more. Something cracked and Jay grunted, letting out a sigh of relief and replaced his hands on his knees."Ah hate wearing clothes. Gloves too. They're so restrictin', but Ah gotta if Ah wanna be 'round Kev."

Tommy had been trying had not to think about the strain in his back but Jay's words just reminded him, causing his shoulders to twitch the urge to rub the knots from them. He closed his eyes with a small grimace and distracted himself with another gulp of water. "Yeah, there is a reason it's called back breaking work. But it's a small price for what we're doing." When he could ignore his back again he opened his eyes. "Is he the one you gave the feather too?" He thought that was who he had talked to the other night, but since they had never introduced themselves, he wasn't certain. "I think I talked to him the other night."

"Yeh, tha's 'im." He smiled. A small thought ran through Jay's mind. It was so small, he didn't want to take notice of it, but he had, and considered voicing it. A part of him was mad at Kevin for ignoring him all this time, another part needed some sort of attention from someone and the final part was that some how, he thought that what he would offer would bring down the tension a little, instead of causing more of it. "C'mere, sit down 'ere an' Ah'll get tha' knot outta yer back." He set the bottle aside, brushing his bangs back away from his face again, only this time, they didn't stay as they were dry again. He figured Tommy would just tell him to go to hell and he could get on with life.

Well. That was unexpected. Tommy gave Jay a considering look, as if trying to figure out if he other boy was being serious. Jay had been the one voicing the pain in his back and yet now he was offering to rub Tommy's? That was on top of the slight shock he felt at the fact Jay even suggested touching him at all. "Excuse me?" was all he could think of to say, his voice displaying how genuinely confused he was over the request.

Jay ran a hand over the back of his neck uncomfortably and gave Tommy a helpless look. "Ah was jus' offerin' ta help get tha knots outta yer back. Ah look, maybe ah should jus' go?" he stood up and turned in what looked to be the hallway. Spreading his wings, Jay flapped them twice, really wishing he didn't have to fly so soon. He was so tired.

Getting the odd feeling that he'd blown something, Tommy waved it off with a shrug. No point in worrying about it now. Then he looked around the site considering for a moment. "Do they need you right now? I'm sure we can find something around here for you to do, give you wings a rest." He offered off-handedly, not able to help seeing how tired the other looked.

Jay looked over his shoulder, ducking beneath a cross inbetween rooms before he stopped and checked the bag. Pulling out a sheet of paper, he studied it. "Ah got... two... twenty six more houses ta go. Unless ya need tha help?" Jay turned and reached up, placing a hand on a wooden frame that separated them, waiting for Tommy's answer.

Raising an eyebrow, Tommy gave him an amused look. "The question is, do you want me to need help?"

"Huh?" Jay gaped at Tommy, giving him a queer look. Okay, this was getting weird. Time to bail. "Yeh... well, uh, they're waitin' fer me anyways, so uh, Ah'll just get going." Was Tommy flirting with him? He was too tired and the moment past. Maybe he had imagined it. Jay dropped his arm and turned around, heading for a window. "See ya 'round."

At Jay's stunned look, Tommy blinked in confusion. He'd meant, did Jay want him to need help so that he could take a break from flying. He was sure he could find something for the other boy to do on the ground around the site, even if it was just hammering or picking up loose nails. Then he just shrugged it off. Whatever. "Yeah, well good luck on the rest of your deliveries. Thanks again for the nails."