Jack stood frozen on the top of Chase's stairs as Raimundo fled (in a rather girly manner, he might add) back to his temple. Chase chuckled maliciously and turned back towards the stairs and Jack, stripping his jacket and throwing it offhandedly onto the floor.

"What the hell was that about, Chase?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Don't give me that. I'm not stupid- why the hell was he here?"

"Looking for you, I suppose. He seemed rather upset that you were... as he believed... 'cheating' on Clay. Poor boy. Seems jealous, no?"

Chase had reached Jack and threw his arms around the younger man's waist. Or at least he attempted to throw his arms around Jack's waist. Jack twisted and grabbed Chase's wrists, shoving him backwards against the stair railing. Doubled backwards over the metal bar, Chase sneered down at him lecherously.

"This is sort of kinky, isn't it Jack?"

Jack released him immediately and backed away, almost sickened. "Give me a straight answer Chase. He wasn't here looking for me. He was... thrown when he saw me here. He didn't know I was visiting. He came for you Chase, and he made a pretty ballsy entrance, so he must have known you weren't going to kick the snot outta him." He focused a searching glare on Chase's face.

Chase crossed his arms and leaned more comfortably against the railing behind him, making sure to keep the distance between himself and Jack far enough away that Jack wouldn't be alarmed, but still close enough so that Chase could examine the bite marks he had put on Jacks lips earlier.

"You aren't going to like what I have to say."

"I don't like it so far, yeah."

"We were distracting each other."

"Beg pardon?"

Chase rolled his eyes. "Raimundo was convinced he was in love with Clay and I admit I was... lonely without your admittedly stimulating company. Raimundo believed I would help him fetch a plan to destroy the connection that you and the bumbling Southerner had. I informed him that it was hardly likely that the two of you would (forgive my bluntness) stay together long and so we merely needed something... someone else to occupy our time and help us forget heartache. If only for a short while."

Jack took another step away from Chase, shaking his head slowly as if trying to clear from it the words that had just slipped from Chase's mouth, which was slowly curling into a cruel smile.

"Do my nightly pleasures truly bother you so? Maybe Raimundo wasn't the only jealous one."

"I don't give a damn who you sleep with, Chase."

"Then what's the problem?"
Jack still looked uncomfortable. He was rubbing his arm almost furiously as though attempting to wear away a bit of the skin.

"I laughed at Clay for thinking you two were havin' at it, he stormed off and the next time I see him, he's shoving me out onto the curb. I can't help but think that the two events are related."

"I assure you, I have absolutely nothing to do with Clay's abandonment." He took a wary step towards Jack. When the red-head didn't protest, he ran his fingers through his hair and pulled him against his chest. "He left you... of his own free volition."

"But Clay said-"

"Whatever he did is now irrelevant." His fingers fell from Jack's hair and traced his brow, his jaw as his thumb caressed Jack's lower lip. "You're here now. With me. That's how it's meant to be."

"Meant to be?"

"Really, Jack. Did you honestly think that you and that monk were truly destined to be together?"

"...Sorta. Yeah."

Chase rolled his eyes. To be young again... "Such naivety. You're evil, Jack. Or at least you try to be. Clay Bailey is a Xiaolin monk, fighting to keep the world safe for all, or something like that. How would you two survive?"

"We were doing pretty well."

"For a time."

Jack again pulled away from Chase and headed into the bedroom. Chase followed him and was more than a little disappointed as he saw Jack pulling on his shirt. Leaning against the doorframe he sourly inquired, "What, might I ask, are you doing?"
Jack's shoulders were set and as he pulled his jacket over his shirt he replied snappishly, "I'm leaving. In the past minute and half, you've managed to insult my intelligence, my personal beliefs, and the one person I've ever cared about more than myself. You expect me to stick around for... what? It's hard to have steamy, passionate sex when one person is pissed at the other."

Chase blocked Jack's path as he attempted to exit the room. "And where will you go?"

Jack glared up at him. "I'm not a hobo or something, Chase. I can go back to my house."

Chase reached out and gripped Jack's shoulder tightly. "Stay."

Jack angrily pushed Chase's hand off and snarled, "I'm not your pet Chase! And I'm not your lackey either- just because you want something from me doesn't mean you'll get it."

"Jack-"

"God, could you be any more arrogant? Just because you're attracted to me doesn't mean the feeling's mutual. And you can't just assume it is. I. Don't. Want. To. Be. With. You." Jack laughed humorlessly at the shocked expression on Chase's face and managed to shove past the elder man into the hall.

"Not to worry, Chase. If you're lonely, there's always Raimundo."

Chase whipped around, his hand crashing into the side of Jack's face, and Jack was flung over the railing, landing heavily on the stone floor below.

Chase sauntered down the stairs, eyes fixed on the figure rolling over on the floor. "You will stay here, as I have told you to, and if that means I have to break your legs, I will do it."

Jack groaned and pushed himself off the floor, staggering a bit, and grasped the wall behind him. His shaking hand wiped the blood gushing from his nose away from his mouth. "Go to hell, Chase."

"I'm doing this for you, you know." Chase approached slowly, cautiously, not unlike a lion stalking a gazelle that's about to run. "You will want to stay with me, in time."

Jack snorted and immediately regretted it, spraying blood over his hand and Chase's floor. "Yeah, I'm sure. Being tossed over railings... breaking my nose on cement... such fun. Gosh, how would you top this at parties?" He started walking parallel to the wall, ensuring that he wasn't going to be trapped between it and Chase's chest. Chase chuckled and followed him, keeping eye contact as they slowly circled the room.

"I never tire of your humor Jack. It's one of you most winsome qualities."

"Thanks. When I think of one of your 'winsome qualities', I'll tell you." He winced as he stepped, sure that his ankle had been sprained in the fall. That wasn't good- it would make running that much more difficult. Not that he could out-run Chase on two good ankles... Damn it.

And then he realized that he had managed to make a half-circle around the room.
His back was to the door.

Well. That helped.

And turning on his heel, he sprinted to the door, acknowledging the feral snarl from behind him, wrenched it open...
Ran heavily into something more that a little solid and bounced back into the room he had tried so hard to escape.

Clay stood in the doorway with his fist raised to knock, and stared bewildered down at Jack sprawled on the floor.
"What the heck are ya'll doin' down there?"