Room 222, Sunday Midday

[bitten_notshy]

As far as anyone in this version of Fandom was concerned, their work was done, which would have given Jack more of a sense of accomplishment if it hadn't made him feel so horribly restless. It wasn't even as if he could find much in the way of distraction. (Emma and Rose slept on with so many other friends at Town Hall; Tony was still working in Vancouver; he supposed he should be more concerned he hadn't seen Valentine all week. She was with her brother, perhaps.) The few people who walked the halls mostly seemed as out of sorts as he was.

He'd also come to the conclusion that the wampyr of his home were the only sane vampires in the universe.

He flopped back on his bed with a primer on Russian grammar. He didn't have any immediate use for the language, but it was, at the least, something to do.

[Expecting a phone call, and someday this will be a linkdrop, but it is open.]

Comments

[wantstodirect]

It was Tony's day off and he missed the people back in Fandom. Dinah wasn't answering her phone, so he called Jack next.

[bitten_notshy]

Jack checked the display, and then picked up the phone with mixed emotions.

On the one hand: Tony. Talking to Tony almost always made him feel better, one way or the other.

On the other: He was going to have to tell Tony everything that was going on. That was worrysome, even if Dinah had let him in on some of it before -- well. Before.

He let the phone rang a second time before pushing the button to take the call. "Hello, Tony."

[wantstodirect]

"Hey, Jack. How's it going?"

[bitten_notshy]

"It's -- it goes," Jack said, an unusual note of doubt in his tone. "When did you last talk to Dinah?"

[wantstodirect]

That didn't sound good. "A couple of days ago. What's wrong?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Um, well ..." Best not to drag it out. "Nothing here," he said carefully. "Exactly. She's safe."

A pause. "You know I'm not crazy and I wouldn't lie about anything that mattered?"

Mislead, yes. Lie, no.

[wantstodirect]

Tony closed his eyes. "Jack, just tell me what's going on? Please?"

[bitten_notshy]

"It's strange!" Jack apologized. "People have been falling asleep all week and dreaming of a world where where evil vampires" -- and how ludicrous did that sound, when passed between the two of them? -- "rule the island. Since Friday, no one's been able to wake them up. People who have come back think we need to defeat those vampires to get anyone back home."

"Dinah is asleep."

[wantstodirect]

"She was having nightmares," Tony said softly. "You think that place is real? But it doesn't make sense. Vampires aren't automatically evil."

[bitten_notshy]

"I know, though I did hear the theory they're all arseholes," Jack muttered. Which was as close as he'd come to outing Mitchell.

"I don't know if where she's gone is real. I believe people think they're there, and ... from this side that's what we can know."

[wantstodirect]

That was one theory of vampires Tony couldn't really argue with, especially since he and Henry had been butting heads a lot lately.

"How long has she been asleep?" he asked.

[bitten_notshy]

"Since Friday, I think," Jack answered. "I've seen her when I visit people in the clinic. It's eerie. They look so -- so at rest."

[wantstodirect]

"Can you look out for her for me? Please? And let me know if things don't get better, or if they get worse. I'll find a way to come back," Tony said.

[bitten_notshy]

"Tony," Jack said, soft. "I'll do everything I can. We were researching, the last two days. I think we found a few things. It's just the waiting."

Which was never, ever the easy part.

"As soon as I hear she's woken up, I'll find her and make her call you."

[wantstodirect]

"Thanks," Tony said. "If you need me - if anyone needs me, for anything - I'll have my phone on, okay?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Of course," Jack said, and settled back on his bed with his eyes closed. He needed to just talk to someone for a second. "When Henry feeds, does he look different?"

[wantstodirect]

"His eyes get darker," Tony said. "What about Sebastien?"

[bitten_notshy]

"His fangs come out, and after he stops being so pale," Jack said. It wasn't much of a change, in truth. "The evil vampires have faces that completely change when they feed or attack -- their foreheads go bumpy. I've never heard of anything like that."

[wantstodirect]

"Me neither," Tony said. "I never knew there were so many kinds of vampires."

[bitten_notshy]

"I halfway think they do it just to be confusing," Jack mused. "You know, mutate just enough from world to world that they can never all be killed too easily."

He meant it. He didn't mean it. He didn't know.

[wantstodirect]

Tony snorted. "Probably. Making sure none of the legends quite match up."

[bitten_notshy]

"Makes it easier to walk among humans, too," Jack said, not quite idly. "No one can find you if they aren't quite sure what to look for."

[wantstodirect]

"That, and convincing people there's no such thing as vampires," Tony said. "Which seems to have worked better in my world than in yours."

[bitten_notshy]

"My world's not much good at hiding things," Jack hazarded. "We're good at building up customs and laws. Denial's not our way, just regulating things until people can ignore them."

[wantstodirect]

"Yeah, we're more into the denial," Tony said. "Which sucks like anything when there's an invasion from another world that only I seem to notice."

[bitten_notshy]

A long pause.

"Er. You ... wouldn't be in the middle of one of those just now, would you?"

[wantstodirect]

Tony let out a little laugh. "No, that's what happened last summer. Most of my coworkers are out of the denial zone after, you know, the house." Except Lee - though that was a different kind of denial.

[bitten_notshy]

Jack laughed in relief. "That's something, anyhow. I don't want thinks like the house to keep happening for you. Are things all right?"

[wantstodirect]

"So far, knock on wood." Tony rapped his knuckles on the coffee table next to him.

[bitten_notshy]

"Knock wood," Jack echoed. "Take care of yourself and I'll let you know if anything gets worse here, promise."

He still missed Tony.

[wantstodirect]

"Thanks," Tony said. "You stay safe, too, okay?"

[bitten_notshy]

"I usually do," Jack claimed. "We'll talk soon, all right?"

[wantstodirect]

"All right," Tony said, and smiled. "I like hearing your voice."