Kitchen, 33 Apocalypse, Saturday Lunchtime

[bitten_notshy]

Jack had only planned to stay in New Amsterdam for a night or two, but two had become five as he delayed leaving the relative comforts of his own world -- and, just as importantly, of being in a city again. He'd found nothing more of note on Sebastien, though the university he had funded still stood.

Jack noticed that the campus's main library had been named after Abigail Irene Garrett. He thought it a nice touch.

But his work for Eric had piled to a point that couldn't be handled from a distance, and now he was home -- home and, as it happened, famished. He made himself a peanut butter sandwich and sniffed the air, wondering who the new presence he detected in the house would turn out to be.

[OOC: Open to housemates, calls, etc!]

Comments

[not_a_whiner]

Kaidan had retreated after his initial efforts to get out and do something, anything, to take his mind off of... well, everything. It wasn't surprising, really: he wasn't a social animal, and he had a lot to think about.

Too much, actually.

But the noise - more noise than he was used to, barring maybe whenever Ronan decided to go crazy with the cooking - eventually lured him out of his room, down into the kitchen. If it was nothing-- he might as well get a sandwich.

Wasn't, though.

So they were all that young in this house... and now he felt twice as old. "Hey."

[bitten_notshy]

"Hey," Jack returned, and stowed the knife in the peanut butter jar long enough to turn around for a proper assessment. Human, definitely ... but there was the slightest tang of something metallic or chemical that made him wonder if he was entirely right about that.

It wasn't anything threatening, either way.

"I'm Jack," he said. "Sorry, I'm not sure Ronan mentioned your name."

Or much of anything, really -- but to be fair, Jack's phone had a habit of misbehaving when he went back to his own dimension. He could have missed a call.

[not_a_whiner]

"Lieutenant Commander Kaidan Alenko," Kaidan offered up easily. "But you don't need to use the whole thing."

He'd gotten too used to living among other soldiers all the time. "He did mention you. Nice to meet you, Jack. I'll be staying here for... a while."

Until his shrink decided he'd gotten to... something... enough to serve the Alliance in a more active capacity again.

[bitten_notshy]

"But using the whole thing might be fun," Jack said idly, and went back to assembling his sandwich. "'Lieutenant Commander Kaidan Alenko, we're out of soap. Lieutenant Commander, did I get a package today?' And so on. But -- just first names will suffice, I suppose."

He looked sympathetic. "Anyhow. I'm also here for ... a while. I manage the paperwork down at one of the bars. Are you working in town, or teaching?"

[not_a_whiner]

Kaidan couldn't quite suppress a chuckle. "I had that coming," he admitted freely, "I guess. Uh... I'm teaching a course about robotics at the school. Mostly I'm supposed to be here to keep an eye open for the Systems Alliance, though. Your whole multiversal hub thing's... interesting."

[bitten_notshy]

"It's startling, isn't it?" Jack said, a slight grin on his face. "I had some advantage in that the supernatural's real in my world, but it was 1899 when I first came here. But I've never heard of a Systems Alliance. Should I have?"

[not_a_whiner]

"Definitely a couple of centuries past your time," Kaidan said. He was doing a lot better at keeping these things from startling him, though privately, he wondered - couldn't have been easy, settling in here from the 19th century. "Couple of centuries past this one, too."

[bitten_notshy]

"So we must seem primitive to you," Jack speculated.

He couldn't tell Kaidan specifically was surprised, but he'd learned to expect it, so he added: "It's been three years, and I was used to having to adapt anyhow. Besides, this time is ... easier to live in."

His sandwich complete, he took it over to the table.

[not_a_whiner]

"The medical care is definitely better, the hygiene, civil rights..." Kaidan trailed off. To make up for his silence, he walked past Jack to mess around in the cabinets himself.

That was the problem with being a biotic - you got hungry quickly. Especially if you tried to keep up an exercise schedule.

[bitten_notshy]

"Civil rights were the main thing," Jack said, idly watching Kaidan look through the cupboard. "I appreciate the concept of heart transplants and such, but I'm Jewish. Where I'm from, saying that too loudly was an excellent way to find yourself in a fight."

[not_a_whiner]

"Huh." Kaidan located some of the Alliance biotics-grade protein he'd brought into the kitchen, pulled it out. "Guess you'd know better about that than me," he admitted. "I... so much has happened for humankind over the past thirty years, it's like most of us have forgotten what history was like to begin with, you know?"

[bitten_notshy]

Jack didn't exactly know, but he looked mildly disturbed. "Don't tell me the earth got bombed into oblivion. I'm rather fond of it."

[not_a_whiner]

"No, but, ah... thirty years ago we found out we weren't alone in the universe," Kaidan said, shutting the drawer in question, "and we were the guys late to the party."

[bitten_notshy]

"How did they feel about a few billion extra guests?" Jack wondered, though he could guess it hadn't been the happiest of meetings from Kaidan's tone of voice.

[not_a_whiner]

"We managed to beat back the strongest military force they had on hand for a time," Kaidan said. He made his way to the table and pulled back a chair. "They were pretty eager to make peace with us after that."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack mulled that over for a moment. "So where do you come in?" he wondered. "Your branch, are you keeping the peace now?"

[not_a_whiner]

"We're the collective military presence of Earth in space," Kaidan replied. Countries still being what they were, and all... "Earth's got as much of a stake in keeping the peace as the rest of them do - especially now that we're on the Council. But we still need to keep humanity safe, too. The galaxy's full of dangers."

[bitten_notshy]

"That part makes sense," Jack noted. "The world can be dangerous. I'm sure other -- planets, or what have you, would be much the same."

[not_a_whiner]

"Yeah." Kaidan gave Jack a speculative look. "Different kind of danger than what you might be used to," he offered. "In... 1899, right?"

[bitten_notshy]

"It was 1902 the last time I went home," Jack said, with a tiny shrug. "But you might be right. When we go to war, there are a few magical fillips but it's still basically people shooting at each other. Though I was thinking about wild animals and such, too."

He prodded at his sandwich, tearing off a corner with fastidious fingers.

[not_a_whiner]

"Wild animals you can find everywhere, that doesn't change." He took a bite of his own food. "I don't know. I guess you had to do a lot more adjusting than I've had to - I mean, outside of the stories about... well, you know the stories."

[bitten_notshy]

"I know lots of stories," Jack said. "Which ones do you mean?"

And now he was wondering if he should bring up his condition. He supposed someone living with him deserved to know.

[not_a_whiner]

"About the island," Kaidan clarified. "All the unusual things going on. I mean, the Alliance told me to watch out for it, but I don't know if they realized just how far it went."

[bitten_notshy]

"It's a very strange place, and I don't think anyone on the outside has the first clue," Jack told him. "Maybe it's different for teachers, or for the Alliance, but all we knew when I enrolled was that the school specialized in unusual situations."

"For what it's worth," he added, thoughtfully, "the danger generally -- passes. I think the island wants itself to survive."

[not_a_whiner]

"You think the island has a will of its own?" Kaidan asked, quirking an bushy eyebrow.