Work Text:
1989
“Okay,” Jonathan said, breaking about ten minutes of silence and studying, “I've made a decision.”
“What's that?” Nic asked from the other side of the room, not looking up from his schoolwork.
“I'm asking out Gabe Agreste.”
James and David both snorted in unison, and a moment later looked up, surprised. “Oh my God,” James said, “you're actually serious.”
“Of course I'm serious,” Jonathan said. “Why, what's wrong with asking Gabe out?”
“For starters,” James said, “you keep calling him ‘Gabe’.”
“So? He loves it.”
“No, he hates it, and you know he hates it, which is why you do it.” James closed his textbook and looked his friend in the eye. “Jonathan, somewhere out there I'm sure there’s a guy who’s going to appreciate your particular brand of obnoxiousness but I assure you, that guy is not Gabriel Agreste.”
“You don't know what you're talking about,” Jonathan said, annoyed. “It's going to be great. Opposites attract and all that.”
“No, they don't.”
~~~
Jonathan managed to track down Gabriel a few hours later, sketching in one of the art department studios.
“Working late?” Jonathan asked. Gabriel didn't look up, or even respond beyond nodding vaguely. Jonathan walked up behind Gabriel and leaned over his shoulder, studying the sketch for a few minutes. “Wow,” he said appreciatively. “You’re really talented, you know that?”
“I do,” Gabriel replied. Jonathan laughed and leaned in closer, so he was right next to Gabriel’s ear.
“Modest too, huh?” he asked, lowering his voice a bit. “Everything I like in a guy.”
Gabriel finally put his pencil down and turned to look at Jonathan. “Are you mocking me?”
Jonathan instantly dropped his cocky grin and attitude. “What? No, I’m hitting on you. Jesus, dude, what happened to you?”
Gabriel blinked. “Oh,” he finally said. “I see.” He picked up his pencil and went back to work without another word.
“Okay,” Jonathan said, trying to recover, “so flirting isn't your thing. That's fine, I can be direct. You, me, dinner, Saturday.”
“I don't know,” Gabriel replied. “I don't really date…”
“Do not finish that sentence with ‘men,’ there is absolutely no way you're straight.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Actors.”
Jonathan laughed. “Oh, he's smart, too.” Gabriel didn't respond. “Oh, come on, one night out won't kill you.”
“I suppose it won't,” Gabriel admitted, somewhat begrudgingly. He leaned back in his chair and looked Jonathan up and down for a moment before sighing. “Fine, why not.”
~~~
Jonathan had just about convinced himself he'd been stood up and should just go home when Gabriel arrived at their agreed upon meeting place.
“Ready?” he asked Jonathan as he approached.
“Yeah I, uh...I've been ready for about forty minutes now.” Jonathan paused. “You know, because it's seven forty. And we said seven.”
“I was working. I lost track of the time.” It did not escape Jonathan’s notice that neither of these statements was an apology, and something in his expression must have caught Gabriel’s notice. “I'm prone to that sort of thing,” Gabriel added. Still not an apology. “Are you angry?”
“Me? Nah,” Jonathan lied, determined to salvage the evening. “I needed the extra forty minutes to rehearse all the great lines I've prepared anyway.”
Gabriel blinked. “That was a joke,” he said.
“Yep,” Jonathan said. “I'm, uh, prone to that sort of thing.”
“Right.” Gabriel tilted his head slightly to the side as he looked at Jonathan's button-down shirt. “Is that color palate also meant to be a joke?”
“What?” Jonathan looked down. “No, I just like this shirt.”
Gabriel’s eyes widened slightly for a moment. “I see,” he said, his tone dubious.
Jonathan took a deep breath and let it out. “We should get going,” he said. He didn't wait for Gabriel to respond before starting to walk off, and at this point he was honestly unsure whether he wanted Gabriel to follow after or not.
By the time they reached the restaurant, Gabriel had managed to insult Jonathan three more times. It was clearly unintentional each time, but this was beginning to matter less and less to Jonathan.
By the time they ordered, the only thing keeping Jonathan in the restaurant was the thought of his friends and their various I-told-you-sos.
By the time the entree arrived, however, that thought ceased to matter.
“So… how long have you been interested in fashion?” Jonathan asked, desperately trying to steer the conversation in a less infuriating direction.
“Oh, quite a while,” Gabriel replied. “I've always had an eye for it. My parents try to discourage it, but I think I've mostly worn them down.”
“Oh,” Jonathan said. “I'm sorry, Gabe, that sucks.”
Gabriel’s eyes rolled ever so slightly at the diminutive. “It's fine,” he said. “Their lack of enthusiasm is unfortunate, but it won't stop me from achieving success in the field.”
“Still,” Jonathan said. “I can't imagine having to deal with that. My parents have always been really supportive of all my interests.”
“Clearly.”
Jonathan blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Well, acting,” Gabriel said, as though that explained anything. “Honestly, I understand why any parents would be troubled at the idea of a child pursuing an artistic hobby as a full-time career. At least fashion design adds a tangible real-world value to-”
“Okay,” Jonathan interrupted. “That’s it. I’m done, I’m going.”
Gabriel frowned. “Going where?”
“Literally anywhere else but right here, Gabe.”
“Why?”
“Why? Because there’s a restaurant full of witnesses, and I’d rather not spend the rest of my life in jail, that’s why.” Jonathan got up, angrily threw a few bills on the table, and left without another word.
~~~
The next day, Jonathan found Gabriel back at his usual spot in the art studio. Gabriel didn't look up as Jonathan entered the otherwise abandoned room. “Hey,” Jonathan said. Gabriel didn't respond. “Look I, uh… I may have overreacted last night,” Jonathan admitted.
Gabriel didn’t look up from his sketchpad. “Apology accepted,” he said.
“So not an apology, dude,”Jonathan said before he could stop himself. “Jesus, you’re annoying, you know that?”
“I’ve been told.”
Jonathan took a deep breath. “Look. I’m the kind of guy who likes to make jokes and pretend I’m not actually upset when I am, and I have a tendency to let it build up, you know? And you. Are. Infuriating. So I’m pretty sure this,” Jonathan waved his hand back and forth between the two of them, “would be a disaster.”
“Probably,” Gabriel agreed.
“But I like you,” Jonathan continued, “when I’m not trying to date you, that is, and I hope this failed experiment doesn’t ruin our friendship.”
Gabriel blinked, then slowly put down his pencil. “I don’t believe this has ever happened to me before,” he said.
Jonathan raised an eyebrow. “You’ve never been dumped?” he asked, incredulous.
“Oh, that’s happened plenty of times,” Gabriel said. “No, I don’t believe I’ve ever gotten the “let’s stay friends” part before.”
Jonathan blinked, surprised. “In that case, Gabe, I’m proud to be your first.”
Gabriel sighed wearily. “Out of curiosity, are you ever going to stop calling me ‘Gabe’?”
Jonathan grinned. “Never,” he promised.
1991
Gabriel Agreste never would have investigated the strange noise he heard if he’d recognized it as crying. Unfortunately, it was not a sound he was accustomed to identifying. So when he heard it on his way out of the university’s theater building, after working late in the costume department hours after he believed everyone else had left, he opened the stairwell door without a second thought.
“Oh,” Gabriel said awkwardly, “I… I apologize, I didn’t realize-”
“It’s fine, Gabe,” Jonathan said, looking up at him from the stairs. “I just, um, needed to get away from everyone. I didn’t realize you’d stayed late. You’re fine, though.” He brushed away a few tears with the heel of his hand impatiently.
“I see.” There was an awkward pause. “What, um,” Gabriel cleared his throat, “that is, what is it that, ah-”
“My mom’s not gonna make it,” Jonathan interrupted. “She’s got a few months left, they think. At most.” Jonathan took a shaky breath. “And if I hear one more person tell me they’re sure she’s going to beat the impossible odds and pull through, I’m going to punch them in the face, so fair warning.”
Gabriel blinked. “What a perfectly idiotic thing to say.”
Jonathan let out a small laugh, though the tears still didn't stop. “I know, right?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Gabriel sat down next to his friend on the stair. “I’m very sorry,” he said sincerely. “I remember meeting your mother. I like her.”
“Yeah, so do I,” Jonathan muttered. He sighed, then glanced at Gabriel. “Thanks.”
1993
“Gabe, these costumes look amazing,” Jonathan said appreciatively.
“I'm aware,” Gabriel said dryly through a mouthful of pins. “Next time you're getting charged my full rate, by the way.” He pinched in a fold of fabric on the waist of a young actress named Agnès, grabbed a pin from his teeth, and fixed it in place.
“Seriously?” Jonathan asked, mock-hurt. “I'm practically doing you a favor here. You love getting to design unusual period pieces and you know it. When's the last time you got to do anything this interesting at that boring fashion company you work for?”
“What I find interesting at this stage in my life, Jonathan,” Gabriel said dryly, “is steady, reasonable paychecks.”
Agnès raised an eyebrow at her fellow castmember, careful not to move from the neck down while she was being fitted. “Don't you work at that boring fashion company, too?” she asked.
“Nah, not anymore,” Jonathan said. “I got in, got some high-quality stills to round out my portfolio, got paid for my trouble, got out. It was great.”
“You no longer work there?” Gabriel asked. “It's difficult to tell, based on the frequency with which I run into you chatting up one of my subordinates when they're supposed to be working. Don't move,” he added, as Agnès let out a loud laugh.
“Hey,” Jonathan said defensively, “I can't be held responsible if all the designers at your office, present company excluded of course, are-”
“Jonathan! Phone!” the stage manager shouted from down the hall.
Frowning, Jonathan crossed to the costume room’s phone and picked it up. “Jonathan Dumas,” he said, his voice suddenly all business. He listened for a few moments, his left eyebrow steadily rising as he did so. “Well, what did he do to provoke that?” he finally asked. A second later his eyes widened. “No, I didn't mean it like-no, of course I take this very seriously, I assure you. Of course. Yes, I'll be there right away. Yes, thank you, I appreciate your-” Jonathan scowled as, evidently, the party on the other end of the line hung up. “God damn it, Adele,” Jonathan muttered as he slammed the phone back in its receiver.
“What's wrong?” Agnès asked immediately.
Jonathan was already grabbing his coat. “Oh, apparently my sister lost her temper and insulted her science teacher. And while I'm sure he completely deserved it, Adele’s damn principal already thinks I ‘lack the sufficient authority necessary for guardianship’ so now I've got to go handle all that.” Jonathan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Six months,” he muttered to himself. “Six months until she's eighteen and I can go back to just being her cool older brother.” He leaned against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. “I was good at being a cool older brother.”
Agnès was still stuck in place, but she reached her hand out towards Jonathan. As he gratefully took it, she squeezed comfortingly. “You're doing an amazing job looking after her,” she told Jonathan. “I'm sure her principal sees that. It'll be fine, I promise.”
Jonathan sighed. “Thanks, Agnès. If the director asks, tell him I'll be back for evening rehearsal, okay?” Agnès nodded, and Jonathan turned to Gabriel. “Sorry to abandon you, Gabe. I'll see you around?” Gabriel’s attention had barely strayed a bit from his work during the conversation, and he simply nodded and waved without looking over before returning his focus entirely to the fitting at hand.
1995
“So, I heard you met my sister.”
Gabriel looked up from his desk to see Jonathan grinning down at him. “I did,” he said simply, and Jonathan laughed.
“I also heard you barely survived the encounter,” Jonathan added gleefully.
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “If you're here to see if I harbor any resentment towards her, I assure you I do not. It was a simple case of mistaken identity. If anything, I am grateful she drew my attention to the issue with Philip so that I could handle it.”
Jonathan scoffed. “I could have told you Philip was a jackass,” he said.
“And yet, you didn't,” Gabriel replied. “Neither did anybody else, for that matter, even though he's been working here for over a year. Your sister, on the other hand, was only an employee for a few hours before bringing the matter to my attention. While her execution was admittedly a tad unorthodox it was, I must say, a refreshing level of directness all the same.”
“Oh,” Jonathan said. “Well, that's good to hear.”
“Did your sister…” Gabriel paused. “That is, what was her impression of our encounter?”
“Adele? Oh, she's completely mortified. Says she’ll never be able to speak to you again. Personally I doubt you’ll be that lucky, but-” Jonathan stopped talking, noticing that Gabriel’s face had fallen ever so slightly. His eyes widened dramatically. “Oh my God, you like her.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Of course I like her,” he said defensively. “What's not to like? What an absurd accusation.”
“No,” Jonathan said, “I mean you like her.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “If you would consider acting your age for even a second, Jonathan, I am quite certain your efforts would not go unappreciated by the general population.”
“Yeah,” Jonathan said slowly, “you definitely like her, Gabe. You only get this overly verbose when you're trying to cover up having an emotion.”
“Good Lord, Jonathan, would you-”
“Hang on,” Jonathan interrupted, holding a finger up to silence his friend. “Give me a few seconds to picture it.” Gabriel’s glare deepened, but he said nothing. A minute later, Jonathan dropped the finger. “Yeah, okay,” he said. “It's weird, but I can see it. You’d balance each other out. I kind of love it, actually. Okay, I'm one hundred percent on board, let's do it.”
“Do what?” Gabriel demanded.
“Get you crazy kids together, of course.”
Gabriel took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “For the record,” he said, “in no sense did I ask you to set me up with your sister, or in any way confess to feeling anything towards her beyond the courtesy affection due to a coworker and relative of a longtime friend. However, as a purely academic interest…” Gabriel hesitated, then looked up nervously at Jonathan. “What exactly did you have in mind?”