33 Apocalypse Avenue, Friday Morning, 1/11/13

[bitten_notshy]

Exactly one year before (and 110 years, a continent, and a universe away) Jack had been waking up in a hospital bed to a world that would never smell or sound exactly the same way to him again.

Funny, how it seemed both like he’d been a werewolf all his life and like he’d been bitten yesterday. How he felt Sebastien’s ongoing absence as if it were a missing hand but made no real efforts to track the man down. Jack could find him easily enough – of that he was certain -- but he held back out of the fear the century had changed Sebastien and the bite had changed him, and any reunion would be too awkward to bear.

At 21, Jack was coming to believe there were some things it was better not to know.

He didn’t do anything in particular to mark the rather macabre anniversary – bite-o-versary, some part of his mind that thought he was funny supplied -- but it was very much on his mind as he turned on the living room TV this morning. Usually he didn’t watch TV except as a social lubricant, but he’d never found anything better at getting his busy brain to silence itself.

… or it was when the first thing he turned on wasn’t a report on a vicious dog attack. He changed the channel and found a Paris travelogue, changed it again and saw a Wendy the Werewolf Stalker rerun.

The island, he decided, was in a spiteful mood.

[OOC: Open post.]

Comments

[bitten_notshy]

Jack grimaced slightly. "They have to keep him a hero, at least," he said. "But the rest of it -- I can see why you wouldn't want it."

[not_a_whiner]

"I don't think it's any use hoping this isn't gonna be tacky," Kaidan muttered.

[bitten_notshy]

"If they stick to the battle it might not be so bad," Jack suggested optimistically. "The tackiest bits are usually the ones about the loved ones back home."

[not_a_whiner]

"Thanks," Kaidan said, glancing his way, "Now I'm going to be worrying about that."

[bitten_notshy]

"That's why you live with me," Jack smiled. "So I can think of terrible things you wouldn't come up with on your own."

[not_a_whiner]

"Thanks for the great service," Kaidan said dryly, though the corner of his mouth had quirked up with a little bit of amusement. "Anyway, that's my woes. How're you doing?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Class was an interesting mix," Jack said, mulling over where to start. "I think I may like teaching. Oh -- I was supposed to ask you about flying cars."

[not_a_whiner]

"Flying ca--" Wait, he'd heard that one before recently. "You been talking to the new people?" Kaidan asked.

[bitten_notshy]

"Josh Lyman," Jack nodded. "He came into the club. I can't believe I never thought to ask you about flying cars before."

In part because he hadn't known they were a thing, but now that he knew they were ... it was a hard concept to resist.

"He wanted to know if the house had space for a third."

[not_a_whiner]

Kaidan rubbed at his forehead. "I told him he couldn't drive one. Because he doesn't know how," he said wryly. "Should've known someone would ask about that eventually."

He took a moment to mull about the other thing, though. "Move in...? Well, he's a nice guy..."

[bitten_notshy]

"You could teach me how to drive one," Jack suggested slyly. (Well, he thought he was being sly.) "And I liked him? I told him if you didn't have a problem with him moving in, I didn't."

[not_a_whiner]

"I guess I can't really think of a reason not to let him," Kaidan said.

Slyly ignoring Jack's slyness, yes. "Sure. Why not."

[bitten_notshy]

"Sure Josh, or sure the flying car?"

This was an important point to clarify

[not_a_whiner]

"Sure Josh," Kaidan said, and shot him a dry look. "Do you even have a driver's license?"

[bitten_notshy]

"I'm offended you would ask," Jack said, reaching for his wallet to produce a perfectly legitimate-looking British license.

Granted, it had been purchased from Chuck Bass years before for a few hundred dollars, but most Americans couldn't tell the difference. Jack drove with it when he had to, and not badly.

[not_a_whiner]

"I'm not teaching you or Josh how to drive a flying car," Kaidan said firmly. (He was... slightly dubious about the legitimacy of Jack's license, but he didn't know enough to be able to tell the difference.) "For one, it's going to be absolutely useless unless you spend large amounts of time in my universe."

[bitten_notshy]

That was hard to argue with.

"... well fine, if you're going to be rational about it," Jack said, sliding the license back into his pocket before Kaidan could spend too much time pondering how exactly he'd gotten it. "Given I didn't even know they existed before this week, I suppose I can manage not to have one. But take me up in one if the chance comes up?"

[not_a_whiner]

"Fine, fine," Kaidan said, holding his hands up. "If you ever make it to my Vancouver, I'll take you for a tour in my mom's SkyCar. That okay?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Fair enough," Jack said, not wanting to press his luck on this point too much further. "I can see where cars zooming above the Fandom skyline wouldn't much match the island."

[not_a_whiner]

"We'd probably wind up crashing into the school if we're not careful," Kaidan said practically. "And the distance you could cover is... well, easier to take a rickshaw."

[bitten_notshy]

"And it'd get a little more attention if I took it into Baltimore than I need," Jack granted. "Just tell me this, are they as fun as they sound?"

[not_a_whiner]

Kaidan could've brushed that off with I don't know, I grew up with them, but that would be kind of disingenuous.

"Yes," he said. "Yes, they are. Just don't ever let Sh-- I mean, it depends on whether you're driving."

[bitten_notshy]

"Less fun with the wrong driver, then," Jack said. (Which was not a surprise. Horses weren't much fun with the wrong driver, either.)

[not_a_whiner]

"That goes for most vehicles, though."

Boy, did Kaidan have some Mako stories to share...

[bitten_notshy]

Jack snorted his agreement. "I grew up with horses. Get in a carriage pulled by a horse who's sick or in a bad mood or with a driver who doesn't know what he's doing, and you'll wish you just walked."

[not_a_whiner]

Kaidan chuckled. "Okay, we had this one vehicle, for terrain exploration," he said, "The Mako. Came with wheels and everything. Had this feature where you could leap it straight up into the sky for up to like, fifty feet. Otherwise, it was real clunky to control unless you knew what you were doing. And Shepard-- Shepard never knew what he was doing behind any wheel. Puking in the Mako was practically a Normandy hazing ritual."

[bitten_notshy]

"Did you warn the newbies before they went out with him?" Jack wondered, also chuckling.

[not_a_whiner]

"Ash never let me," Kaidan said wryly. "She thought it was funny. 'A real kick in the nads' kind of funny. Of course, usually that was when she didn't have to come along."