Camping (locked to Joe, backdated to Sept 29th)

[echolls_cursed]

Seeing as how he and Neil had been fighting about damn near everything all week, Logan had been more than a little eager to go camping with Joe by the time Saturday morning rolled around. So eager, in fact, that he'd already been to the compound to find a sleeping bag in the clothes box (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle themed no less), and had packed his make-shift bag before Joe had even come to find him.

For once Logan was ahead of the game, knocking on Joe's door to see if he was ready.

God, he'd never thought he'd be so eager to stare at trees for nearly forty-something hours.

"Hey, you ready?" he asked, knocking once and then pushing the door open a crack. "I grabbed some food for us to take or whatever... so, uh, I'm ready to go when you are man."

Comments

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I dunno, I bet Dale would follow you... though, uh, he could probably find the way home if you ot him lost," Logan said with a small smirk.

He was quiet for a bit after that, mulling over his thoughts before speaking up again. "You know, I didn't mean to give you a hard time about him when you guys got together for real... I guess I just thought maybe you wouldn't need me around anymore or something. I've only met him, like, once, but Dale seems like a good guy. ...He's been good for you so far at least."

[jdick.livejournal.com]

Joe smiled when Logan spoke, glancing at him over his shoulder as much as the path allowed. He appreciated Logan saying it now, appreciated what it took for Logan to say it and he was quiet for a long moment as he listened. "He is a good guy," he agreed. "Thanks, man. It, uh... it's kinda important that you get along with him."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan just shrugged a little and walked on. "So, uh, you think you guys are gonna live together or something? I mean, you spend enough time together... might as well take the next step. What's the worst that could happen?"

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"I dunno, we never really talk about it," Joe admitted, which was perfectly fine by him. He also thought it was perfectly fine by Dale and although maybe it was a pain in the ass to go back and forth sometimes, he didn't think either of them really minded. "Been almost six months. Jesus."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"You guys ever talk about Billy?" Logan asked, knowing he was probably pushing it, and asking too much. Still, he was curious how that worked.

Billy had been the love of Joe's life, right? And even though Logan knew that sometimes you had to move on, and that Billy would have wanted Joe to move on and be happy, he couldn't help but wonder if it ever caused any tension. Like, if maybe it was something they argued about.

After all, Logan and Neil had argued about Lilly often enough in the past, and Logan really didn't know all that much about Dale. Who he was and who he'd been. The guy was a total mystery to him.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes, yeah," Joe answered. And that was maybe one of the best things about Dale. Like Joe understood that Dale was never gonna forget the woman who'd died, Dale understood that Joe would never forget Billy. There was always going to be a part of each of them that belonged to someone else and it worked.

"He and Billy were friends, y'know?" he asked, hoisting himself up over a rock. "So, yeah, sometimes we talk about him."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Is it ever, I dunno, awkward?" Logan asked. "I dunno if I could handle that, talking about someone my boyfriend or girlfriend had really loved. I'd just get... jealous or something. I guess that just makes him a better person than me though."

[jdick.livejournal.com]

Joe shook his head, because it oddly wasn't. He was a jealous person and he hated Jack and Mamet because of what they had with Dale, but there was something different about Sookie. Maybe it was easier because Joe had loved her, too.

"It's not so weird," he admitted. "Which in itself is fucking weird."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I guess, but a good weird," Logan shrugged, going quiet again as he pushed himself to walk a little faster.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Better than me and him trying to kill each other all the fucking time," Joe agreed. "He'd kick the shit out of me, anyway. I'd lose." And there was really no question of that, as Dale had already proven twice.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan snorted a little at that, but didn't argue. He was pretty sure Dale could take Joe without even really trying.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Not much further," Joe said after a moment, following the path up the mountain a bit further. "We're close now."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Thank god, man," Logan sighed. "It feels like we've been walking forever."

[jdick.livejournal.com]

Joe snorted softly, but didn't say anything else until they'd finally reached the place he'd been talking about and then he set down his bag. The ground was flat and there was enough room for them to set up camp and the view was pretty fucking amazing.

"Good?" he asked.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan took a long moment to just look around, dropping his things near Joe's. He took in the view with a long hard look, eventually turning back to Joe and nodding. "It's beautiful," he admitted.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I figured this was a good place," Joe agreed, sitting down on a rock to rest for a minute before he began to get his shit out. "Billy and I camped out here once."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"He liked coming up the mountain," Logan said, remembering how often the other man had gone away to enjoy it. "I always wondered why. He ever tell you?"

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"No," Joe answered, although he thought he knew. "Billy wasn't happy here, man. This place... it was like the place I had to go to fucking survive, you know? And it just sort of broke Billy down and I think maybe the mountain was the only place he didn't feel like it was killing him."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

It was kind of painful to think about, and he offered Joe an apologetic look. "He didn't always hate it," he said after a moment. "He liked it when he was with you."

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes," Joe allowed with a faint grin, looking over at Logan. "Sometimes, yeah. And sometimes I just pissed him off even more."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I miss him," Logan said quietly. "And i think Dale's a good guy for you, but sometimes it's weird to see you with him... It's stupid, I know it is, but I always figured it would bs you and Billy forever or something. Guess it just proves that nothing ever lasts forever. Not even the best relationships."

[jdick.livejournal.com]

If Logan thought Joe and Billy's relationship had been one of the best, then he hadn't seen enough of them together. Joe didn't correct him, though, because there was no point now.

"Some things just aren't meant to last forever," he said with a small shrug.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan had a tendency to see what he wanted to see, and frankly, he'd needed to see Joe and Billy that way. Not that he was really sure why.

"Sometimes I worry me and Neil can't last."

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"You never really know, eh?" Joe asked, because telling Logan that he and Neil would last forever wasn't something he could say. It might be a lie or it might not. "No one ever really knows."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan simply sighed a little and moved to sit down beside the older man. "It sucks," he decided.